Harry Potter & the Wizards of Waverly Place Book 1 The Stone of Dreams
by Gandalf's Beard
Summary: Plausible sequel to my Harmony shipper "How Harry Potter Should Have Ended?" fan-fic. The War is over. Harry and Hermione need a holiday and New York seems like a great place to begin a tour of the US. Will the Russos help or hinder them when vengeful Death Eaters come calling? Rated M for some sexual themes and violence, but suitable for older teens.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **_The premise of the story is based more or less strictly on Harry Potter canon, except that Hermione ended up with Harry after Ron ditched them in the middle of the Occupation of Britain by Voldemort and his Nazi-Wizard goons. (Does anybody really come back from that and expect the girlfriend they abandoned to be possibly captured, tortured, raped, and murdered to welcome them back? I love the series to death. But that was a huge mistake on Rowling's part). If you want to see how I envisioned them getting together, read 'How Harry Potter Should Have Ended'_

_I originally decided to stick with the timeline as established by canon in the Harry Potter book series. This is shortly after the end of the second wizard war in the summer of 1998. As Alex Russo would have been 6 then, I pushed the Waverly Place timeline back to fit. This takes place after the episode in which Alex wins the Wizard of the Year Award for defeating Gorog and the Angels of Darkness-somewhere in the middle of season 4._

_But honestly, you could do it either way. I didn't specify any dates in the story, so WoWP fans can just bump the Potter timeline forward in their minds to match it up with the Waverly timeline. In fact, I found during my many edits, that I couldn't picture it any other way. I suppose it's because the Harry Potter films were finishing around the same time that WoWP was concluding._

**PART 1**

**Death in the Dark**

**Chapter 1**

Ron, George, and Ginny Weasley stood at the gate of terminal 4.

"I still don't understand why you're flying the muggle way!" grumbled Ron crossly. "The International Floo Network would be much quicker."

Hermione sighed. Despite Ron's protestations, she knew that he was still hurting. The war was won, but Fred was dead; and she was now Harry's girlfriend instead of Ron's. Ron had accepted the fact that she and Harry were together rather well, all things considered. In fact Ron had blamed himself for his break-up with Hermione. But that didn't mean he had no more feelings for her; and every once in a while he just couldn't help himself. Jealousy would overcome him.

"Ron, I _told_ you. Harry and I lived like muggles until we got our letters for Hogwarts. But Harry..." Hermione began, but Harry interjected. He needed Ron to hear it from him.

"...I need this Ron. I need a break from magic for a bit. I want to know what I missed about being a muggle when I lived with the Dursleys..."

"Yeah? Well, I bet you won't be halfway across the Atlantic before you use magic!" said Ron nastily. Harry knew immediately what was wrong. It had nothing to do with Hermione. Ron wanted to go too.

But Ron couldn't go. Mrs. Weasley was having none of that. She wasn't letting any of her children out of her sight for a good long while. She had said it was because she needed them to help sort things out while Arthur Weasley was adjusting to his new role as the (reluctant) Minister of Magic, but everyone knew that it was because Fred was gone.

Nor could Ron afford to go anyway. Muggle travel was far more expensive than an International Floo Pass-and the Weasleys couldn't even afford that!

"Come on Ron! You know I would bring you _all_ along if your Mum would let me," Harry pleaded.

"Yeah.. I know," Ron sighed, "Go on mate. Have a good time! Sorry for being such a prat."

Ron wasn't the only one looking bitter. Ginny had not taken it well when Harry had told her that he and Hermione were together. She had had a crush on Harry since before she had met him; and she was having difficulty accepting that whatever they had briefly had, was over. Ginny wasn't sure she would ever get over Harry. But she knew she wanted to be a part of his life, even if it was only as a friend.

Ginny pushed her feelings down. She just wanted Harry to be happy. She smiled through tears and gave Harry and Hermione both a warm hug. George gave Harry a lopsided grin.

"Have fun Harry... Hermione. But don't be gone too long. Mum is having a blue fit because she knows she can't keep you two at home."

They all had a bit of a laugh. Then after some more hugs all the way around, Harry and Hermione set off towards the gate for their British Airways flight to New York.

Harry had never been on an airplane of any sort. After many years in the Wizarding World he had to agree with Mr Weasley. It was amazing really, what muggles could do without magic. He made a note to himself to take some courses at a muggle college when he got a chance. He really had been deprived of a proper muggle education which had ended after he had finished 6th year at primary school. Maybe he should have taken Muggle Studies after all. Harry was a bit anxious; This plane was huge, and he couldn't imagine how it would possibly get off the ground without magic.

Hermione tried to explain to Harry about aerodynamics, speed, and wind-resistance, but he didn't quite follow it until Hermione patiently drew some pictures. It all made sense then. Despite the size and shape of the airplane and the power source, he figured it wasn't so different than flying a broom. Sure, his broom was small and powered by magic, but the same principles applied while in the air.

He felt a bit better after that, but he still wished he had some firewhiskey. Harry had no control over the airplane. His safety was in the hands of Muggle pilots. Hermione peered at Harry who still looked a bit pale.

"It's alright Harry..." she began knowingly, "Your birthday was a week ago! You're perfectly legal to get a Muggle Whiskey if you want to-at least until we get to the United States. I don't know what their age limits are." Harry grinned, his face brightening!

"Thanks Hermione, I had completely forgotten. I can't believe I'm 18! And I missed out on 7th year." He groaned; then Harry continued, his face scrunched in puzzlement, "You know what's weird though-somehow I feel much older than that now. It's like..."

"...like the war changed us." Hermione finished Harry's sentence without missing a beat. "We aren't children anymore-and not just because we're over 17. We've lived a lifetimes worth in just twelve months, and defeated the most dangerous and powerful dark Wizard since Grindelwald!"

Harry marveled. That was exactly what he had been about to say, word for word!

"Yeah, and the idea of returning to Hogwarts just seems really strange now. It's been my home for 6 years, but I feel like I've outgrown it..."

"...and we have!" finished Hermione simply. "Harry, don't you realise? You've learned more about magic in the past year than you could have ever hoped to learn at Hogwarts! And yes, you had a lot of help from the Order and the DA, but in the end it was only you against Voldemort. And you proved that your magic was more powerful. You've learned how to control it in ways you hadn't dreamed of before-not from books, but from experience."

"But I wish I knew a few more spells!" sighed Harry. "I relied on you way too much to make up for my shortcomings."

Hermione giggled.

"But that's what I'm here for Harry!" She waited a moment, then continued a bit more seriously, "Don't worry, there will be plenty of time to further your education. In the meantime, I think I can manage to pick up the slack!" Hermione gave Harry a hard stare, but which barely hid a hint of laughter.

"Yes, well you've always gone above and beyond Hermione!" He left the rest of the sentence unsaid: that's why I love you. But his eyes said it, and Hermione saw it.

"I love you too," she whispered in Harry's ear as she put her arm around him. They kissed briefly, then Hermione leaned into his shoulder, still holding him. Harry looked out of the window down at the fluffy clouds far below and the blue sea below that.

This was a perfect moment. Harry realised that he no longer needed a Whiskey, and after a while they both drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disembarking at JFK airport proved more confusing to Harry than when he had first tried to find his way to Platform 9 and 3/4. But eventually they made their way through customs, found their luggage, and made their way to an exit. Harry was beginning to think that traveling by the International Floo Network might have been a better idea.

There was a line of taxis waiting for customers. Hermione led Harry to the nearest one and clambered into the back when the taxi-driver grunted in acknowledgment.

"Where to?" the cabbie asked.

"The Plaza," replied Harry. Hermione gasped in shock.

"Are you sure Harry? I think that's the most expensive hotel there is!"

"What... really? I didn't take very much gold out of my vault (or Sirius's), but it seemed to convert into a lot of muggle money. Don't worry Hermione, there's plenty where it came from." Harry didn't notice the taxi-driver staring at them with a strange expression on his face. The cabbie was caught between bewilderment and annoyance.

"Hey, I got the meter running. You figured out where you wanna go yet?"

"Yes, the Plaza Hotel please," Harry repeated.

The taxi-driver pulled out into the traffic, shaking his head. These English kids couldn't be more than 16 or 17 he mused. And yet there they were, talking about gold in vaults and getting a ride to the Plaza Hotel. Rich kids? They didn't look like much. In fact they looked very normal and not rich at all, though the girl seemed quite attractive. The taxi-driver quickly ended that line of thought.

"So you two from England?" he asked. Harry and Hermione both responded in the affirmative simultaneously. "First time in the US?" he pressed on. Again the boy and girl shyly replied together that this was indeed their first trip to America. The taxi driver grinned, "I came here from Nicaragua following a girl 25 years ago-I've never looked back with regrets." He turned and winked at Harry, who began to blush at the cabbie's implication.

The cab-driver was still giving Harry an encouraging and slightly leering look as he unloaded their luggage. He took Harry aside while Hermione reached back into the taxi for her purse.

"If you're trying to impress her, you're doing a good job kid! I don't know where you scrounged up the dough. But keep it up and you'll score a homerun before tomorrow morning!" The cabbie practically cackled with glee. Harry flushed bright red.

"Oh... erm... What!?" he stammered. The cabbie just winked again at Harry, and then got back into the front seat of his car holding a thick wad of cash! The boy was certainly a great tipper the taxi-driver thought as he drove off.

People stared at the pair as Hermione and Harry checked in, wondering who had dressed them. It wasn't usual for a couple of teenagers in jeans and sweatshirts to book a suite in the top floor of the Plaza Hotel.

As they rode the elevator up to the 20th floor, Harry and Hermione just looked at each other, silently blushing. Harry couldn't get the cabbie's leering face out of his mind, nor what his comment implied. Hermione hadn't heard the taxi-driver's comments, but her thoughts also lingered on what was to come next.

She was still in a bit of shock at the thought of Harry spending a fortune for the best suite in one of what was surely one of the finest hotels in New York-if not the world. It seemed rather unlike Harry to spend money on luxuries without a care. But then she remembered how Harry would always purchase nearly the entire snack cart on the Hogwarts Express and then let Ron eat most of it.

Harry was doing this for her. Not to impress her, but to share what he had with someone he loved.

The suite was huge, and had a magnificent view of the city. A Butler escorted them through the amenities of the suite, which contained a bathroom with a small pool sized bathtub, a kitchen, a dining room, a guest room, a fully stocked bar, an entertainment room, a balcony with a hot-tub overlooking the city, and a large bedroom with a double-king-sized bed. After the tour of their suite, the butler took Harry and Hermione's dinner order.

It was dark by the time they finished dinner, which they had taken on the terrace. The air turned chilly and they held each other while marveling as the city lights came up. They hadn't spoken much through dinner. Harry felt extremely awkward; what should he do next? His mouth was dry, and he felt at a loss for words. But trust Hermione to break the ice. She grinned at Harry.

"Come on Harry, into the hot-tub with you." She tugged at Harry's shirt.

"It's cold Hermione..."

"It won't be in the hot-tub," she replied as she took off her blazer and tee-shirt. Harry felt extremely light-headed... perhaps the wine-but he'd only had two glasses. Hermione began to unbutton Harry's shirt.

The last person to actually excite Hermione like this had been Viktor. But they had never got beyond snogging and a bit of fooling around. This was much better. She loved Harry very much, which just inflamed her passion even more. Hermione had wanted this since Godric's Hollow, but until now, there had been no opportunity.

Before he knew what was happening, Harry found himself naked and soaking in the hot-tub with an equally nude Hermione wrapped around him. He returned her caresses and kisses, unsure if he was doing it right. But Harry soon forgot to be anxious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Hermione woke the following morning with her arms around Harry, she thought she couldn't possibly feel happier. All the horror of the past year seemed like a distant memory. She wanted to feel again what she felt last night. But Harry was still asleep, so Hermione wrapped a nightgown around herself, made a cup of tea and went to sit on the balcony as the sun crept over the horizon and rose higher.

Harry slowly stirred awake when the sun hit his pillow. He felt good, better than he had in a long time. In fact, Harry couldn't help but also feel a bit proud about himself, after he and Hermione had rather successfully survived their mutual "first time." He had heard some awful stories about the "first time" from some of the other students at Hogwarts.

He wondered why he hadn't done this before, or even really tried with anyone else. Then Harry thought that maybe it was because nobody else was Hermione.

Harry got out of bed and put his own robe on, wondering if Hermione would like to have another go in bed. Hermione looked up at Harry when he approached her. A cold gust of wind blew his robe open and Hermione giggled when Harry cursed and covered himself up. She had been waiting for him to wake up.

"Yes," Hermione said smiling, when she responded to Harry's unspoken question. "I _would_ like to. But stay here Harry, its nice up here.


	4. Chapter 4

After breakfast, Harry and Hermione planned their day, making certain that a trip to see the Statue of Liberty was on their itinerary. Determined not to use magic, they chose to try New York's Underground instead of a taxi.

It was nothing like the London Tubes; here, grime and graffiti covered the walls, rats scurried in the shadows along excrement covered floors, and the lights were dingy. They stopped at an information kiosk for directions.

"Excuse me," Hermione began "What Tube do we take to get to Staten Island." The kiosk worker stared at Hermione blankly.

"Tube?" She had just been about to take a lunch break and these two English kids were stalling her. It took her a moment to figure it out. "Oh, you mean the Subway line right?" she said in an annoyed and contemptuous voice. "And if you want to get to Staten Island you'll need to take a ferry." She tossed Hermione a folded map.

"Here, you'll find which lines you need to get to the ferry terminal in there," she said sharply. Then the stocky woman bolted through the door at the back of the kiosk and left Harry and Hermione staring after her in amazement at her rudeness.

They made their way down to the Subway tunnel, and got on a train which seemed to connect to a line to the ferry terminal.

"I don't know Harry, this is a bit creepy in here," Hermione muttered anxiously. There was a stale stench of urine and beer. Their carriage was quite full, and they were getting squeezed by the crowd. Hermione felt someone's hands grab her buttocks, and they weren't Harry's hands. She gasped in outrage and felt inside of her sweatshirt for her wand. Harry put his hand on her arm.

"Don't Hermione! Let's just get out of here. We don't know the Wizarding rules here." Which was quite odd actually. Hermione always researched the places she wanted to visit. He would ask her about it later when they were off the bloody train.

A few minutes later they stumbled off the train into an unknown station. They pored over the map, but even Hermione was having trouble figuring it out.

"I think we got on the wrong train Harry. Look, this is where we are now - by Washington Square."

"Well anywhere has to be better than down here. I'm sick of these tunnels." They made their way up a broken escalator, and then up some stairs to the street level.

"Oh Harry!" exclaimed Hermione brightly, "I think this is Greenwich Village. This used to be the center of art and the counterculture in NY."

"Counterculture?" He really did need to bone up on Muggle Studies Harry thought ruefully. He had an image of tie-dyed t-shirts and hairy musicians - not unlike some of the more eccentric Wizards he had met in fact.

"They were artists and poets who broke with traditional cultural mores and politics Harry. From the bits I've picked up, I think many of them were Wizards. And I expect some Wizard families still live here." Harry pondered her statement. Something still seemed strange. Hermione ought to be much more informed he thought.

"Hermione, I keep meaning to ask... but, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I was just wondering why you don't know very much about American Wizards." Hermione crinkled her nose in frustration.

"It's _ridiculous_ Harry! They're even more secretive about their communities than the Ministry is about ours. Except for a bit of information about the Salem Institute I got from the Wizards at the Quidditch cup, I couldn't find much else on American Wizards."

Harry felt a bit disconcerted at the idea of stumbling into something unknown.

"Well, let's just wander around here for a bit Hermione. It seems nice here and I could use some lunch." After meandering around a couple of blocks Harry and Hermione found themselves on a street called Waverly Place in front of a sandwich shop. The sign read Waverly Sub Station. "Lets give this a go Hermione?"

Hermione wasn't sure, but she sensed an electric charge around the shop. Harry obviously sensed it too and was drawn in by it.


	5. Chapter 5

The decor of the shop reminded Harry and Hermione uncomfortably of their recent misadventure in the Subway. But there was something about this place... A slender, very pretty girl with ebony hair slouched at the counter with a morose look on her face. She looked like she couldn't be more than 13 or 14, but she radiated an intensity which reminded Harry a bit of the Veela. Hermione said nothing, but something about the girl drew her in too.

They wondered where the clerk was! Surely someone was around to take their order. A man in his late 30's with a receding hairline wandered through the kitchen door.

"Alex!" he exclaimed with exasperation. "We have customers. Hop to it..." The dark haired girl groaned as if a huge weight had been placed on her.

"Gah, do I have to? Mason is supposed to be here any minute!"

"Well until he is you have work to do," replied the frustrated man. Alex slumped her way to the other side of the counter.

"Alright Daddy! I'm on it," moaned Alex. "Okay you guys, what kind of sandwich do you want?"

Harry and Hermione were speechless. Alex's behaviour had momentarily stunned them into silence. But despite her openly annoyed appearance, they couldn't get over the feeling that there was something rather sweet about Alex. The air seemed to ripple slightly around her and crackle with electricity. It dawned on Harry and Hermione simultaneously. The girl, Alex, was a Wizard, and apparently a very powerful one at that for them to be able to feel her magic radiating so intensely without needing a spell to detect it.

Something about Alex reminded Hermione strongly of Harry; but neither of them spoke until Alex broke the spell.

"Dudes, come on...hurry up," she whined "What do you want? My boyfriend is going to be here any minute..."

"Erm..." began Harry, "How about a Ham and Swiss on Rye! And you Hermione?" They didn't get any further with the order because Alex had started jumping up and down, squeaking and grinning-her sullenness had vanished completely. It was hard to believe that this effervescent young girl was the same person who had been slouching on the counter moments ago.

"No way! You guys are English," she squealed excitedly "You HAVE to meet Mason; he's English too. Did you just get here? I mean are you tourists or do you live here?"

"Tourists!" Hermione managed to get out before Alex went on.

"You know, you look kinda familiar..." Alex stared at Harry pensively. The girl's discerning look undercut her prior facade of indifference. Harry realised that Alex was far more intelligent than she had given them any reason to believe so far. He began to get nervous as he flattened down his bangs.

"Erm... I... I guess I just have that sort of face," Harry stammered.

"No, that's not it. I've seen you before somewhere. I know it!"

"Really, I've never been here before-to the United States I mean..."

"...and we're really very ordinary," finished Hermione somewhat unconvincingly. Alex kept staring at Harry, taking in his round eyeglasses, mussed up hair, and the lightning shaped scar which he had unsuccessfully tried to cover.

Light dawned on Alex. If she had seemed bubbly before, now she was positively gleeful but appeared to be having a panic attack at the same time.

"Oh my gosh, I know who you are..." her jaw dropped. "You're Harry Potter and you're a famous wizard." She grabbed Harry and Hermione by their hands and dragged them to a stairwell. Before they had a chance to rebuff Alex, she had hauled them upstairs and pushed them into a rather garishly decorated flat.

"No... really! We're not wizards," Hermione fibbed.

"Yes... yes you are," replied Alex. She was a master of lies and she could spot even the coolest liar-most of the time. "But it's okay, I won't tell anyone. Please, don't go..." she beseeched. However Alex's promises to keep Harry and Hermione's secret were shattered when a gangly young man with black hair about Harry's age burst in through the front door.

"HAH! I found you Alex..." he snickered. "Dad is looking for you and boy is he mad!" He seemed not to notice Harry and Hermione for a moment. Then he did a rather astounded doubletake followed by a frown.

"What... who...? Alex!?"

"Don't be rude Justin!" Alex snapped.

Justin shot daggers at Alex with his eyes. He was hardly about to take lessons on manners from his little sister.

"Look Justin, it's Harry Potter and a girl I don't know..."

"Hermione, my name is Hermione..."

"And they're **_wizards__._** Look at him Justin, it really is Harry Potter!"

Justin peered at his sister, then back at Harry, his mouth opened to say something but nothing intelligible emerged. Justin appeared to be having some sort of seizure.

"I... you... What?" he gasped. "It can't be..."

"But it _IS_ Justin, look, he's got the scar and those stupid round glasses they made us all wear at Wiz-Tech last year." Harry DID have the glasses, and he DID have a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Finally Justin came to his senses. He goggled at Harry, then asked excitedly,

"Is it true? Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry glanced at Hermione and they sighed. Their plans for an incognito holiday looked like they were going up in smoke.

"Yeah... It's true. I'm Harry and this is my girlfriend Hermione..."

"...Granger?" Justin finished as a question.

"How... how did you know?" consternation was written across Hermione's face.

"Are you _kidding?_ You're a _**genius**_ wizard! You're almost as famous as Harry here..." Alex rolled her eyes, but Justin ignored her. "Your papers on Arithmancy were part of our syllabus at Wiz-Tech last year. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm actually talking to you." Justin took to Hermione like an excited puppy.

Hermione was bemused; she had never expected anyone to think of her as particularly famous, especially not outside Britain. She was stunned to find out that her term papers were being used to teach other young wizards an ocean away. Nobody had ever mentioned it to her. She wondered if it was Dumbledore's doing. Justin, with an almost lovesick look in his eyes, began peppering her with technical questions. But every time she began to respond, he interrupted with more questions.

Harry and Alex - their eyes glazing over - stared blankly at the pair who were discussing very complicated number theories. They turned to face each other. Alex had an adorably infectious smile and Harry couldn't help grinning back.

"Sorry, my brother is kind of a nimrod! Ugh! Don't worry, I'll get your girlfriend back for you... Justin! JUSTIN!" Alex yelled. Justin pulled his attention away from Hermione with great annoyance.

"Whaaat?" he drawled.

"Mason is going to be here any minute, and Harry needs Hermione back so we can go on a double date."

"Er... wait, we are?" queried Harry.

"YES! You _have_ to come. You did say you were hungry, right? And I want you to meet Mason. He's been missing having someone English to talk to."

Harry glanced at Hermione, who nodded quickly. She wanted to get away from Justin as soon as possible. His cloying crush on her braininess was creeping her out slightly. And academic pursuits were the LAST thing she wanted to engage in on this particular holiday.

"Nooo..." cried Justin. "I finally met someone who actually has some brains."

"What about Juliet?" asked Alex with a disapproving frown.

"She turned ancient and disappeared into a forest, Alex!" Justin replied sulkily. "I'll never see her again."

"You don't know that Justin. Love always wins in the end!" Alex looked at her brother sadly, wondering if that was true, but then she frowned "Besides... Hermione is _Harry's_ girlfriend. Leave her alone." Hermione silently thanked Alex who led them back down the stairs. Alex shushed them when they reached the Sub Station.


	6. Chapter 6

"Keep an eye out for my dad and let me hide behind you," Alex whispered. "Now walk slowly to the exit."

Hermione could barely contain her mirth at Alex's brazenness. Once they had sneaked Alex out of the restaurant she led them to a nearby bench where a young man with messy brown hair sat.

"Mason..." yelled Alex, her face beaming. She almost flattened him with a bear hug.

"There you are Alex! Where were you? I went inside but your dad started acting crazy when I asked for you!" said Mason. Alex lowered her voice to a stage whisper.

"I met these wizards from England," she gestured towards Harry and Hermione who stood there, somewhat nonplussed. "I thought you'd like to meet them. I invited them to lunch with us." Mason looked anxious, and whispered back.

"Alex do they know that..."

"...You're a werewolf," interjected Hermione. "I can tell. It's alright though, one of our professors was..." tears welled in her eyes, "...was a best friend and a werewolf."

But Mason still appeared disconcerted.

"You... you don't understand... why my family left England. We're... Greybacks!" he said miserably. Hermione gasped.

"Fenrir is my father's cousin. We had to leave. Not just because the wizards hated us, but because Fenrir did. He would've killed us all if he had the chance. He murdered one of our other cousins. He was a nasty piece of work; hanging out with that bloody Snake Voldemort and murdering any children he chose not to turn. And well, we're not the best Werewolves, but we kept to ourselves and tried hard not to eat people. As far as Fenrir was concerned, that made us traitors."

"Well we won't hold that against you," Harry responded, "Like Hermione said, one of our best friends was a werewolf, but he was murdered by Dolohov - one of Voldemort's minions - at Hogwarts."

They were all distracted by large sobs and peered at Alex; tears streamed down her face.

"Why... why didn't you tell me? I had no idea Mason! I'm so sorry... that... that's so horrible for you."

"I... I couldn't bring myself to tell you Alex. You act like you're all tough - and I guess you are in your own way - but you've never seen evil like this. Gorog, the Dark Angels... They're nothing compared to what I've seen in England!"

"The villains here are a bit pathetic really! Mostly they're just average wizards with delusions of grandeur and goofy schemes to take over the world. But in England, Wizards and Werewolves play by a different set of rules. Death! Torture! I... I couldn't share my nightmares with you."

Harry and Hermione could think of at least one pathetic British wizard with delusions of grandeur, but he was still in a ward at St Mungo's. Alex was embracing Mason, but still sobbing into his shoulder. Harry put his arm around Hermione and gave her a comforting squeeze, it wouldn't help if they all started blubbering in the street. Harry sighed. As sympathetic as he felt, he had hoped to put the war behind him for a bit.

But Harry and Hermione both knew they had just made some new friends. And they weren't going to just leave them here to mope. Harry gave Hermione a look. She nodded...

"Say... erm... Alex, Mason, why don't you two come to lunch with us instead?" asked Harry. "We're staying in the top floor of the Plaza Hotel and they have great food there."

Alex was still sniffing and wiped away some tears; but she was distracted by Harry's invitation.

"S... seriously? The Plaza Hotel? What are you even doing here? If I were you I'd never leave the Plaza just to get some lunch in a little crummy sandwich shop!"

"Well, we were trying to get to the Statue of Liberty, but we got turned around on the Tube... I mean the Subway," Hermione replied. Alex stared at Hermione and Harry incredulously.

"Are you _kidding_ me? The subway? You're _wizards!_ Why don't you just flash yourselves to the top of the Statue?" By 'flash,' Hermione guessed that Alex meant 'apparate.' She made a note to herself to start paying attention to American Wizarding terms and idioms.

"Well..." began Hermione, embarrassed, "We just wanted a holiday. As muggles. The British Wizard War was horrid; we lost a lot of friends. And... and we just wanted to put it all behind us for a bit-even the magic."

Perplexion crossed Alex's features.

"I guess I understand. But I can't imagine not having Wizard powers. I wouldn't be able to be with Mason if I didn't have them. That's why I have to win the family competition."

"Competition?" Harry and Hermione simultaneously asked in puzzlement.

"Yeah, my brothers Justin and Max have to compete with me to see who will become a Full Wizard. Whoever wins gets to keep all of their powers. Whoever loses... loses everything!"

"Bloody Hell!" Harry swore, "That's ridiculous. How does that even _work?_ You can't just switch being a wizard on and off!"

"I _know_ right!?" replied Alex with a vehement sigh. "I don't know how it works, you'll just have to ask Justin. But I think it sucks. It's so unfair."

Harry wholeheartedly agreed. And he realised that he and Hermione had been lucky to be able to pretend to be muggles. They could go back to their magical lives at any time. He couldn't imagine how awful he would feel if he weren't allowed to keep his powers. Hermione was right; there was definitely something very odd about the American Wizarding community.

But Harry didn't think Alex had anything to worry about. She seemed assertive, clever, and more than a bit cunning, quite unlike the lazy sloucher he had seen earlier. And her magic was powerful enough to sense from a mile off!

As far as he could see, Justin was a bit of a prat like Percy Weasley. Smart, but rule-bound, and narrow-minded. He probably studied hard and aced all of his classes. But he didn't seem to have any natural sense of magic.


	7. Chapter 7

Mason appeared to have collected himself, though he still looked a bit pale.

"Did you mention something about lunch?" he asked "I'm famished."

Harry grinned, Mason's comment had strongly reminded him of Ron.

"Yeah... well are we ready to go then?" Harry inquired. Mason and Alex nodded affirmatively, but Alex was ready to take charge.

"We're going to flash there okay!" Alex stated firmly. Harry sighed. He'd just have to get over it and use magic. Not that he really minded at this point. He was NOT about to take Hermione down to the Subway again, and he didn't feel like dealing with any more garrulous taxi-drivers.

"Sounds great. Alright Hermione?"

"Wait Harry," said Hermione. She turned to Alex, "Do you know how to get there Alex? To our suite I mean. I'm not sure how your flashes work if you don't know where you're going."

"Oh it's easy," Alex replied with a grin, "I just grab Mason, wave my wand, and I think of following you. Wherever you go, I go!" Hermione looked suitably impressed. It was probably much the same as apparating, but maybe with some sort of tracking spell attached. She smiled and nodded at Harry who took her hand.

"Okay Harry, ready when you are." And then they twisted into nothing.

They were back in their suite at the Plaza. Half a second later Alex and Mason appeared. They gaped at the luxurious dining room.

"Right," said Harry, "I'll ring for the butler and he can bring up some menus!" Harry picked up the phone to the front desk. The desk clerk seemed startled when he answered.

"Um... Okay, I'll send a butler right up!" but the desk clerk was baffled and he pressed on. "But I don't understand sir; I didn't see you come in and neither did the elevator operator. I don't know how we missed you. I'm so sorry, you should have had a butler already there." Harry groaned. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? He had forgotten that the elevators had operators who would be directing every guest to their floors.

"Erm... er...well, I suppose the elevator operator stepped out for a moment," stammered Harry. The desk clerk didn't challenge him (the customer was always right, at the Plaza, especially when they were staying the priciest suites).

"Okay, your Butler should be there any minute." And sure enough, barely a minute after he put the phone back the Butler was at the door. Harry let Butler in, and took the menus from him.

"Oh... er... we'll look after ourselves then for a bit. We'll just ring down when we've decided," said Harry. The Butler nodded.

"Yes sir, as you wish. I'll send your meal up with a waiter when you order."

"Thanks," Harry responded gratefully as he stuffed some bills into the Butler's hand.

When he turned back to the others, he found them at the full bar.

"I can't believe it," Alex said with awe. "I can tell you're underage. How did you manage to get a suite with all this booze?"

"I booked it in advance from England. They never asked-but we're legal in Britain anyway. I suppose they don't fuss about your age if you're booking the top floor. Do you want some then?" Harry offered.

"Um..." Alex peered at Mason uncertainly. She was only 17 and she felt nervous all of a sudden. "I don't know... Mason?"

"Oh, me? Er... sure, why not! I've snuck into my father's cabinet _loads_ of times. That sounds lovely. You too Alex?"

"I guess I'll try something, but just a little bit..." Alex replied anxiously, "I've never really drank... Sometimes Dad lets us sip a little wine at dinner."

"Right then. Just try a little bit of this then. Mum and Dad seem to love it," said Mason as he reached for a bottle of 18 year old Glenlivet.

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other. The Glenlivet was a good choice if there wasn't any Firewhiskey available.


	8. Chapter 8

"Justin, where's your sister? I sent you after her an hour ago!" groused a red faced and sweating Jerry Russo. Justin averted his eyes, wondering what to say. He didn't want to implicate himself in Alex's disappearance, and when Alex was involved, he could never be sure when the truth was better than a lie. But he eventually decided that the best course of action in this case was the truth.

"Dad... you'll never guess who was here..." Justin began excitedly.

"Don't try and deflect this Justin - where is she?" interjected Jerry angrily.

Well, thought Justin, if Dad was going to play it that way...

"She and Mason went on a double date with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger!" replied Justin bluntly, with a satisfied smirk on his face. It was always fun to watch his Dad have a meltdown. Justin wasn't disappointed. Jerry contorted, gesticulating wildly, sputtering incomprehensibly.

"You... She...Gaaaaah, arrgh, WHAT? Harry Potter? Here? ...Where?"

Justin waited patiently until his dad had calmed down.

"I tried to tell you Dad. Those customers you thought she bailed on were Harry Potter and his girlfriend. She didn't bail on them, she went to have lunch with them." Then Justin's eyebrows furrowed "I guess I wasn't invited!"

"Well, it was a double date Justin, you can't really expect..." Jerry had briefly forgotten he was mad. then it dawned on him what Justin was saying.

"Harry Potter was here?" he asked with a slightly greedy expression. Jerry loved nothing better than to rub shoulders with celebrities.

"And _Hermione Granger_ Dad," Justin was exasperated that his father didn't seem realise who the real celebrity was. "You know, she's _only_ the prodigy who has reinvented the way the Wizarding World sees Arithmancy!"

But Jerry Russo wasn't listening. He hadn't heard a word Justin had said since "Harry Potter." Then Jerry's face dropped.

"Oh _NO!_ This is bad Justin, you've got to get Alex back, away from Harry Potter - Now!"

"What?" said Justin looking pained, "Why Dad?"

"Because of this," said Jerry, picking up The Daily Wizard on the living room table and handing it to Justin.

There on the front page in bold headlines read **"ESCAPED DEATH EATERS RUMOURED TO BE SEEKING HARRY POTTER."** The article continued, _"Several Death-Eaters escaped from Azkaban yesterday, including Antonin Dolohov, Thorfinn Rowle, and the Carrow siblings. According to official sources the four escapees had personal grudges to settle with Harry Potter. Prisoners in nearby cells had given the officials cause to believe that the escapees had made plans to track down Mr Potter and kill him... More on Page 4."_

Justin dropped the paper as if it had burned him. But surely they couldn't be that hard to take on. Harry Potter had defeated Voldemort, and the other idiots had been captured and imprisoned once already. Jerry saw the look on Justin's face.

"Justin, you don't understand! These Death Eaters, they aren't like the Dark Wizards over here. European Dark Wizards aren't buffoons and morons like the ones we have in America. Torture and mass-murder is fun for these guys." Justin stared blankly at his father, slowly furrowing his brow. He opened his mouth to reply, but Jerry grabbed his arm and looked Justin directly in the eye with a deadly serious expression.

"Find Alex Justin. And bring her back immediately! I don't want her anywhere near Harry Potter! I don't know what I'd do..." Jerry looked like he was about to cry. Justin puffed out his chest.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll find Alex and bring her back. I promise."

"Please Justin..."

"Dad, I've got this. Relax! This is today's paper, it's not like they could've found Potter already."

**"JUSTIN!"** Jerry bellowed angrily, "Take this seriously. This isn't monster hunting okay! These people - they will TORTURE and KILL your little sister and feed her to their werewolves or vampires - and not necessarily in that order. Find her... NOW!"

Justin had never seen his dad so terrified and angry. A shiver ran up his spine. He gave Jerry a grim look, nodded tersely and flashed out of the apartment.


	9. Chapter 9

Molly Weasley dropped her cup of tea and it shattered on the floor.

"Arthur, ARTHUR, where are you? Have you seen this?" she yelled, waving around that morning's Daily Prophet. Arthur Weasley clattered down the stairs, clearly having trouble trying to put on his tie which was currently subbing as a bandana.

"What dear?" he panted as he stumbled into the kitchen. Molly shoved the newspaper in Arthur's face, nearly knocking off his glasses.

"THIS," she screeched, "Shouldn't you know this already? Why aren't you at work yet. You should have Aurors all over this by now!"

Arthur sighed, he had got home from the Ministry three hours ago, and he had only had two hours sleep. What could have possibly happened in that time? He pushed his glasses back up his nose and peered at the paper.

**"ESCAPED DEATH EATERS RUMOURED TO BE SEEKING HARRY POTTER."** Arthur gasped, nearly dropped the paper and clutched it before it fell. He continued to read the slightly crinkled newspaper. When he was finished, he put the paper down on the table calmly, much more calmly than he felt inside. His wife was beside herself. Arthur tried to collect his thoughts and let Molly continue to fret on her own.

"Arthur what are we going to do? You can't send any of our children. I forbid it! Haven't you got any bloody Aurors who are any good? What about Shacklebolt? Send Hagrid, he loves the boy and nothing can stop that man when he's on a mission!"

As awful as he felt, Arthur almost smiled, reminded of everything he loved about Molly. She was as sharp as a tack and he had been thinking the same thing.

"You're absolutely right dear! I'll have Shacklebolt and Hagrid on this within the hour. I'm sure other Aurors are already on the case. Right! I'm off then." Arthur made to apparate but Molly yelled.

"Arthur!"

He turned to look at Molly.

"What dear?" he asked. Molly peered at him sternly.

"I think something needs fixing unless you want to go to work looking like a pirate." Molly removed the tie from Arthur's head and tied it neatly under his collar, tucking it into his waist coat. "There you go dear," she said with a sad little smile. "Now go and find Harry and Hermione!" A moment later Arthur had vanished.

Molly turned to her clock to see where her children were. George and Percy had moved back home at her request. Bill and Charlie had others to be responsible for though. The clock showed that Ron, Ginny, George, and Percy were home. They were probably still in bed she thought. Molly turned to throw the Prophet in the rubbish when George stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.

"Is that the Daily Prophet Mum? Here, let me have a look. I want to see if they've put in the advert for the Weasley's Wizard Wheeze's reopening." He snatched it from his mother's hands, not at all registering the shocked expression on her face.

George stared at the paper for a second. He rubbed his eyes in case he had misread it. Nope. There it was in black and white.

**"ESCAPED DEATH EATERS RUMOURED TO BE SEEKING HARRY POTTER."**

"RON!" he bellowed up the stairs.

"NO!" screamed Molly, tearing the Daily Prophet from George's grasp. "You're not to... I won't allow it!" But George kept yelling.

"Ron, Ginny, hurry up! You need to see this right now! Get down here."

Tears streamed down Molly's face as her children stumbled down the stairs rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"No," she sobbed, "I forbid it..."

"Forbid what Mum?" Ginny asked with concern.

"Look," said George loudly, pushing the newspaper at his sister. Ginny screamed.

"No! George we have to go..."

"Go where?" asked Ron blearily as he staggered in next.

"To help Harry and Hermione of course!" Ginny replied firmly. She snatched the paper from George's hand and whacked Ron on the head with it. Ron grabbed at it furiously.

"What was that for?" Ron grumped.

"For being a slow dimwit. Look at the paper you prat!" Ginny glared at Ron who hurriedly averted his eyes and he looked at the Prophet instead. His jaw gaped. Then Ron shut his mouth and looked pensive for a moment. Then his face stiffened and he replied.

"Well, 'Mione and Harry'll be alright won't they? They can bloody look after themselves..." Ron's features twisted as he snarled, "That's what they're good at!" Seeing the horrified expressions on Ginny's and George's faces, Ron realised he had said something wrong and backpedaled in a wounded tone, slightly chastened, "The Death Eaters, they've been beaten before. And Dad'll have Aurors after them..."

_**"ARE YOU BLOODY MAD?"**_ screamed Ginny, "We have to help them..."

"NO!" shouted Molly. "Ron's absolutely right! You lot are all staying here where I can keep my eye on you."

"Sorry Mum," said George quietly but firmly, "That's just not going to happen. I can't let Harry down after all he's done for us."

"And that goes DOUBLE for me!" Ginny scowled fiercely, "You'll have to hex me to stop me!"

"Don't think I won't." Mrs Weasley glared at Ginny, wand at her fingertips.

"MUM!" warned George, "We're going and you're not stopping us! What about you Ron? You going to be a prat and sit this one out?"

"Don't talk to your brother like that! It's alright that he's had enough. Haven't you two had enough yet? Merlin knows how much I love that boy and Hermione..." Molly sobbed "Those two deserve a long happy life together. But I can't lose any more of you. You know your father will have Harry and Hermione looked after..."

"Come on Ginny," George reached for Ginny's hand, then turned to his mother and said, "Bye Mum, we love you." And with that Ginny and George vanished.

Molly sobbed inconsolably. Ron put his arm around her, looking both sulky and guilty. He should have gone. But Mum was right, he'd had enough. And anyway, his mother needed him now. Ron pushed back at the little voices which told him to admit the truth, that he was jealous of Hermione and Harry, being together, being able to go wherever they wanted whenever they liked.

"Is it safe to come down now?" Percy called down the stairs, "I heard raised voices..."

"NO!" bellowed Ron, before changing his mind. "Wait! Yes! Come down Percy... Mum needs you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Dolohov and Rowle appeared with a pop in the living room of a house its owners wouldn't be needing anymore. The Carrows, were waiting on a settee behind a little coffee table. Alecto lifted an eyebrow. Dolohov grinned.

"We found out that Potter and the girl left Heathrow the day before yesterday, on a flight to New York!"

"And...?" queried Alecto with a piercing eye. Dolohov gritted his teeth. Alecto was turning into a bigger bitch than ever now that she was no longer in Bellatrix's shadow. "Do you have an address? Or are we going to have a repeat of your previous feeble attempts to get the blood-traitor and his mud-blood girlfriend?" she asked bitingly.

Rowle imagined using a cruciatus curse on Alecto, but pushed that cheerful thought aside. He answered this time instead of Dolohov.

"Wherever they've gone has an interference screen of some sort-not unplottable exactly. I can't explain it. It's like the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States has a shield that blocks tracking spells. We'll have to get to New York and try from there. And we can't use the International Floo Network for obvious reasons. Too far for broomsticks. Flying Carpets are illegal. Sorry, we're going to have to get there the muggle way."

Alecto snarled in displeasure. Dolohov and Rowle smirked. Amycus just had a lazy bored look on his face. He was sick of waiting around. Those last muggles hadn't lasted long enough to really satisfy him or Alecto. Their blood still stained the carpet and the walls of the living room.


	11. Chapter 11

Evening was falling. Alex, Mason, Harry, and Hermione, were rolling on the large sofa in laughter at the retelling of some of Alex's escapades. The last one had involved a mannequin brought to life. She was unbelievable thought Harry, marveling at her purely free spirit. Mercurial, petulant, cunning, playful, imaginative, fearless, and gregarious, an agent of chaos. But he also sensed within her, a deep well of love and kindness which grounded Alex. Harry couldn't imagine how anyone would be able to manage to take her powers away.

Hermione was giggling, and seemed more than a little tipsy. Harry looked at the bottle of Glenlivet, and noticed that a fair bit was missing. They had all had quite enough he thought. Harry waved his wand and the bottle floated back to the bar. The next thing that he knew, Alex had somehow figured out that the entertainment system turned the living room into a mini-nightclub complete with flashing lights and a disco ball, and soon they were all dancing drunkenly to a loud House-beat. They didn't notice Justin at all when he flashed in.

Justin goggled at the sight and sound! It overwhelmed his senses briefly. Then he spotted Alex across the room dancing with Mason. Oh boy, this was going to be awkward. Justin started bobbing up and down in time to the music and sidling across the room whenever it was dark in his spot. The music stopped suddenly and the lights came up. Justin found himself surrounded by wands.

"Oh,... it's **_you!"_** sneered Alex as she returned her wand to her boot. "What do you want Justin? It's not even a school day. Leave me alone."

Everyone had put their wands away, but Justin still felt extremely vulnerable. Awkward didn't even begin to cover this.

"Um... Alex," Justin began nervously, "Dad says you to have come home right now or he'll ground you for a month... Wait? Is that ALCOHOL on your breath?" Justin began huffing and looking constipated.

Alex giggled uncontrollably.

"Oh _lighten up_ Justin! You were hilarious at Christmas when you drank all that champagne, so give it a rest."

Justin cursed inwardly; Alex was right!

"Okay, I'll give you that, but you still have... to... leave... now!" he said in a very controlled voice.

"But _why_ Justin?" Alex whined, "What does Dad want? He knows I'm on a date with Mason."

Justin glanced awkwardly at Mason, then at Harry and Hermione.

"I... I can't tell you here. Come home," he beseeched.

"NO!" Alex shouted, staggering slightly. "Just tell me what's going on. You're acting all weird!"

"Gah... OKAY!" Justin exploded. "Alright, but you're not going to like it," Justin peered at Hermione and Harry guiltily and gulped, "Dad... we... well, in today's newspaper we saw something bad. Apparently some "Death Eater" guys escaped and are looking for Harry. Dad... Dad says you have to stay away from Harry." He looked even more crushed than ever. Alex almost felt sorry for him. She sighed; she knew there was only one right thing to do.

She was staying. And if she was staying then Mason was staying.

"Justin, no, I'm not going back! Harry and Her'miney need me!" Alex hiccuped.

"You're **_drunk!"_** Justin exclaimed angrily. "What, you think you're going to be their bodyguard? You can _barely stand."_ Justin furiously made a move toward Alex and grabbed her arm roughly. Then he released her, yelping in pain when a bolt of electricity surged up his own arm.

"Back OFF, Justin!" Alex scowled. Justin stared back at her, then looked twice at Harry and Hermione who just stood there, both too speechless to intervene. He looked back at Alex, his face contorted between anger and fear.

"Whatever Alex! You always get what you want anyway. Here..." Justin snapped his fingers and a newspaper appeared between his fingertips, looking very much like a stage magician thought Harry. "Read that, and then see if you want to stick around with your new friends." Justin disappeared in a flash and the newspaper dropped to the ground.

Hermione was the first to move towards the paper and she picked it up. She gasped, and held it open for everyone to see...

**"ESCAPED DEATH EATERS RUMOURED TO BE SEEKING HARRY POTTER."**

Harry groaned loudly. He should have seen this coming. He was such a fool. He looked ruefully at Hermione.

"It's alright Harry. They will know we're here by now, but they won't know where. There seems to be some sort of magical field everywhere that prevents most tracking spells from working properly. But still..."

"...we should move," finished Harry. "Yeah, shame, I like this place."

Hermione grinned at Harry and shoved him on the sofa.

"We've got until tomorrow at least silly. We'll leave in the morning." she said. Harry and Hermione both looked at Alex and Mason.

"This really isn't your fight," began Harry. "We've only just met you. Your brother's right. You should go home; these people looking for us are..."

"...Dangerous! Yeah, I know, blah, blah, blah!" Alex responded dismissively, still teetering slightly. Mason put his arm out for support.

"Thanks Mason," she said with a chuckle, batting her eyelashes at him, "Where was I? Right. Okay, so they're dangerous so what? I've faced plenty of dangerous things before..."

"Not like this you haven't," interrupted Mason.

"ZIP it," Alex retorted forcefully, pointing her finger in his face. "Yeah, maybe the Angels of Darkness and Gorog were pretty pathetic, they didn't eat babies for breakfast blah, blah! But nobody else seemed to know what to do, so I just did what needed to be done. I. Can. Handle. Myself." Mason cowered slightly from her glare.

Neither Hermione nor Harry dared question Alex's decision after that outburst. But...

"Thanks Alex," said Hermione carefully, "We really appreciate your loyalty - you can stay - but, we just want to know why!? Why are you helping us?"

Alex blushed, her eyes flickered almost imperceptibly to Harry and back. She didn't really know why.

"I dunno, it's like, I just FELT something when I met you guys," Alex's eyes fluttered again at Harry and then at Hermione too. Mason uttered a small growl.

"Oh knock it off Mason, it's not like that." said Alex in a pained voice. Then she flushed slightly. For someone who was so good at lying, she was an open book when it came to serious things... like relationships. Okay, so it was a little like that she realised. But she didn't say so.

"Come on! You felt it too! Right? Please... there was some kind of weird electrical magical sort of feeling. I don't know exactly what that was but I know it means we're connected somehow."

Hermione was perplexed, she frowned slightly, but she had definitely felt it too. She had been as drawn to the Sub Station sandwich shop and Alex as much as Harry had been. There was definitely something about Alex!

"Yes," said Hermione softly, "I felt it, I think Harry did too... I don't know what it means though."

"It means we're meant to be together, all of us... together, friends!" Alex batted her eyelashes and smiled sweetly at Hermione. She looked quite groggy and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder.

Then Alex slumped and passed out right in Hermione's lap. Hermione looked helplessly at Mason, who just shrugged. Mason hadn't expected this - Alex getting all besotted with Harry Potter, well, not just with Potter, but Granger too, which confused Mason even more. He saw the way Alex had looked at the girl.

All of a sudden Mason got a chill, all of his hair stood on end. He felt a little nauseous. He slowly backed toward the door of the suite.

"I... I'm not feeling well. I've got to go... home! Sorry. Really I am... feeling quite sick!" Mason gasped and ran out of the door slamming it behind him. Hermione gave Harry a frightened look. Mason had reminded her of Lupin in the moonlight so long ago at Hogwarts.

"Shouldn't one of us go after him?" she asked Harry. The girl drifting in Hermione's lap stirred and murmured softly...

"Mm... 'e'll be okay. Mason only gets mad when he's jealous..." then Alex fell back to sleep.

Alex's comment did little to allay Hermione's concerns, but she put it aside. Mason would have to look after himself. Hermione and Harry didn't want to leave Alex on the sofa all alone. Hermione and Alex looked comfortable enough together so Harry put a light cover over them. Then he sat on the other side of Hermione and put his arm around her, his head on her shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Max finally found Justin lurking on the terrace. It was almost midnight.

"Hey, Justin, why're you hiding from Dad? He's been pacing back and forth for hours muttering something about Alex and a hairy otter!? What's that all about?"

Justin sighed. He would have to bring Max up to speed, if that was even possible. Unfortunately for Justin, not only was it possible, Max seemed to understand the situation better than Justin did.

"Dude you just left her there? Our sister?" Max often looked bewildered, but this time his expression seemed more like contempt.

"What was I supposed to do? I can't get her back, she's too strong for me! And as much as I want to sometimes, I can't put a really strong hex on her anyway, she's my sister."

"Well," said Max calmly, "I guess that saves you a little dignity... admitting that. Okay, so what are we going to do?"

"We," said Justin, "are going to do nothing! Alex has something weird going on with Hermione and that Potter kid. They can look after her. They seem to be used to that sort of stuff," sneered Justin.

"Dude, that's messed up. She's our sister. Whatever she does, we're all she's got to back her up."

"Not anymore, we're not." said Justin through gritted teeth. "She's got those two and Mason to back her up."

"Whaddya mean Mason? I saw him walking by the shop half an hour ago looking furry, drunk, and pissed-off!"

"WHAT?" Yelled Justin. "He took off too? Where's Alex?"

"That's what I'm asking you, you moron!" snapped Max. Justin felt like strangling him at that very moment.

"I'm telling you, there is something very strange going on Max. She made it clear that she was willing to duel for it." Max gasped... and rolled his eyes. A real wizard duel? With potentially painful results?

"So stuck between a rock and a hard place again, eh Justin. You're just going to have to decide which one is the rock and which one is the hard place. Wait, would that make Dad or Alex the rock... or the hard place-whichever one that is?" Max shook his head in disgust and walked away while Justin's hands closed around his imaginary brother's throat...


	13. Chapter 13

When Harry woke up the next morning he found himself lying in the middle of the bed, Hermione curled under one arm, and Alex under the other. Hermione had just woken too and saw Harry's eyes bulging in horror. She giggled uncontrollably.

"Hermione - what, how... What happened last night?" Harry stammered. Hermione couldn't stop giggling.

"Nothing you'll regret Harry. Don't worry! We both woke up in the middle of the night, and you looked uncomfortable, so we dragged you to bed and fell asleep again beside you."

Well, one thing Harry was regretting was that having a beautiful young woman snuggled under each arm made it impossible to avoid "raising the tent" in his trousers. This was embarrassing. Harry hoped Alex was still asleep. Fortunately everyone had just fallen asleep fully dressed on top of the covers.

"Hermione, move I need to get up."

Hermione nearly had a fit as Harry slid off her side of the bed with a pillow on his lap. As he moved, Alex's arm fell off his chest onto the bed and she began to stir.

"Oooooh! Why does my head hurt so much?" Alex moaned, "Make it stop! Mason?"

Alex opened her eyes and the morning light sent another wave of pain shooting through her head. What was she doing on this bed? What had happened last night? She saw Hermione and Harry, still dressed in yesterday's clothes - but where was Mason?

"Hermione, where's Mason? What happened? ...Ooooow, my head!" Alex groaned again. Hermione looked uncomfortable, Harry fled the room.

"It's okay," Hermione said kindly, "We all just had a bit too much to drink last night. Nothing happened. We just woke up in the night and crashed on the bed because it was more comfortable."

But Alex remembered her hand caressing a warm chest shortly before she fully awoke.

"And Mason?" She asked again.

Hermione turned scarlet.

"I'm so sorry Alex! We couldn't stop him. He... er... he said he felt ill and he had to leave. I was going to send Harry after him, but you said no. I think Mason was about to turn."

"_Oh No!_ That means he's jealous," groaned Alex. "You're sure that nothing happened - between... between any of us right? You know, to upset him."

Hermione was hesitant.

"Please, tell me," begged Alex. "I have to know if I deserved for him to leave me."

Hermione looked shocked.

"Of course nothing happened! But even so, nobody ever deserves to just be left by someone they love, especially over some juvenile alcohol fueled delusion." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She couldn't believe it was happening again. Did all women have to deal with this rubbish? "You don't deserve to be treated like that," she finished crossly.

"All you did was get drunk, put your hand on my shoulder, and pass out in my lap! I don't know what Mason thought was going on. He just looked like he was going to be sick, and starting to turn when he left."

"Oh Noooo! That's bad," Alex whined. "That means... that means he's really jealous of... of... _you and me?"_ she wailed. And as she cried out, a voice in the back of her head wondered if that would be so bad. She put her head in her hands again. "Make it stop. It hurts," she whimpered like a pained child.

"Here," Hermione offered sympathetically, "I've got something that will do the trick. Just drink it all and you'll feel better in about 45 seconds." Hermione passed Alex one of the little vials of hangover potion she had brought. Alex did as she was told, and moments later she felt much better.


	14. Chapter 14

That very same morning at Tribeca prep, Mason was getting some books out if his locker for his next summer-school class. Someone rudely slammed it shut just as he snatched his last book.

"Oh, it's you Max! What do you want?" sniffed Mason disdainfully.

"Dude, where's my sister? I told you last time not to mess with my sister after that fiasco at the Wizard of the Year Award, but it looks like you're still messing with her to me," said Max, glaring at Mason.

Mason looked at Max as if Max were a nasty insect. Mason could never figure out how much of Max's madness was feigned. Should he take Max's implied threat seriously, or just blow him off? Then with a big sigh he responded.

"I didn't know you knew interesting words like 'fiasco.' Alright, we'll see who's messing with who then. Flash us to the Plaza hotel, top floor suite."

"Done," said Max.

Alex had just finished taking a shower. She had zapped some of her clothes from home to put on. But meanwhile, she was wrapped only in a towel and her hair was dripping wet. Hermione had finished changing and was just cleaning her teeth. There was a large cracking sound.

Hermione and Alex both shrieked. Hermione dropped her toothbrush, and Alex dropped her towel revealing her wet nude body. Mortified, Alex snatched her towel back up off the floor and wrapped it back around herself.

"Mason, what are you doing in here? **_Get out!_** I'm not dressed! And I'm mad at you, why did you leave me last night?"

"Because of you, and her," said Mason fixing his glare on Hermione. "You were behaving like a bloody trollop with this, this strumpet."

"Mason, I don't care about your stupid crumpets and whatever that other thing you just said was..."

Max slowly backed towards the door of the bathroom; this looked like it might get ugly. He ran into something solid and turned around, staring right at Harry's lightning shaped scar.

"Dude, it _is_ you," Max grinned, "Nice to meet you Harry. I've heard a lot of cool stuff about you! Well, maybe not from Mason - or Justin - but who cares about those losers?" Max noticed that Harry was shirtless. "_Now_ I see why Mason was mad. Alright..." Max nodded and just kept smiling gormlessly, but if one looked closely enough, one could just see the discerning gleam in his eyes. He shook Harry's bewildered hand. "Welcome to the family bro..."

_Bloody Hell,_ thought Harry! Was Alex's entire family barmy? He remembered the first time he had been to the Weasleys.' That had seemed like a madhouse, but partly because Harry had never been with a Wizard family before. This lot just seemed loony.

"Er... really? Thanks...? I guess!"

"No, dude, _seriously,_ have you seen that guy over there? You're a _way_ better catch. You're sorta' like a Wizard superhero, and so is Alex in her own way. Though some people might say she's more like a Wizard supervillain," Max chortled. "But that's just mostly only Justin these days."

Harry didn't know whether to laugh, or run screaming from the room. He chose to laugh, because there really was nowhere else to go.

"See," began Max, "The werewolf always loses it..."

"Fine," snapped Mason, "You don't like Trollop or Strumpet, then how about Harlot? I saw you making out with Potter's girlfriend last night! So what does that make you Alex?" He sneered.

"DRUNK!" Alex yelled. "What were you thinking, you moron? This is worse than when you crashed my award dinner! You knew I've, like, never really drunk alcohol. You **_know_** that! I _asked_ you and you said **_'sure, why not, bottom's up Alex!'_** " Alex began pummeling Mason's chest lightly. "This. Is. All. Your. Fault. What kind of IDIOT leaves his DRUNK GIRLFRIEND alone... anywhere?"

Mason grabbed her arms. Harry's hand twitched towards his wand.

"You were acting weird even before you started drinking Alex. I saw what was going on."

"OH MY GOD! You are the biggest idiot Mason. You know what, you want to go, FINE! I can't take all this jealousy bullshit anymore-especially when you don't even know what the hell you're talking about. You and Justin should go start an 'Alex is a Bitch' Club together. I am _DONE_ with you... now _**GET OUT!"**_

Alex snapped her fingers angrily and Mason disappeared.

"What'd I tell you dude? See, now you've got two girlfriends," Max said, still with the stupid grin on his face, gesturing towards Hermione and Alex. "Dude, you are the **man!** I'm with with you all the way. Bring on those Zombie dudes, I'll help."

Silence!

Harry double-palmed his blazing face. Alex and Hermione both gaped at Max. Alex stood there, still dripping, her wet bottom peeking from the gap in her towel.

"Oh no, _what just happened?"_ she whined. Max opened his mouth to tell her again, but Alex shoved him.

"Shut _UP_ Max!" Tears filled Alex's eyes as she peered beseechingly at Hermione for help. "I'm so confused! What should I do?"

Hermione gave Harry a look. He understood. Harry put his arm on Max's shoulder and led him out and into the main bedroom.

"I think your sister needs some "girl to girl" time with Hermione Max. You _DO_ understand that I can't have two girlfriends at once don't you Max?" Harry asked, bemused. He wasn't sure what to make of Max. Was he for real?

"Why not?" said Max, "That would be awesome..."

Harry grimaced and raised his eyebrows.

"Really? I take it you haven't had a lot of relationships, eh Max!" Harry didn't mean it to sound rude, and wished he could take it back as soon as he said it. But Max seemed to just laugh it off.

"Heh! You're right," Max agreed with a smirk. "But Alex and Justin have, and I've seen it ALL. And when I say ALL, I really mean it. I can see what's going on here. My sister thinks you're hot - and I think she thinks your girlfriend is hot too... Which **_I_** think is kinda' hot. Though come to think about it, maybe I shouldn't think it's kinda' hot." Harry was dumbstruck - or maybe Horror-struck - whichever was worse.

Meanwhile, Hermione was consoling a sobbing Alex, and trying to make sense of things.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Hermione wanted to tell Alex that it would be alright; that Mason would be back, that they would put this behind them and get on with their lives. But Hermione couldn't. Hermione could plainly see that whatever bond there had been between Alex and Mason had been irrevocably broken. Hermione was overcome with a sensation akin to deja vu and shuddered. Angrily, she pushed it aside and focused on the crying girl.

Alex seemed much younger as she cried into Hermione's shoulder, vulnerable and frightened. Hermione just held Alex for a while until the sobbing subsided.

That had been SO humiliating. Alex thought Mason had loved her enough to trust her, especially given that this had been his second chance-and he had blown it big time. And there would be no third chance she determined fiercely as she wiped her tears from her face. Alex didn't know what was happening between her, Harry and Hermione. She was sure magic had something to do with it, and it kind of freaked her out. Though whatever it was felt alright-better than alright actually. Being around them both made her feel good. They felt like friends...

"Th... thanks Hermione," Alex said as she pulled herself back together. "I'll be fine now. I really loved him-still do love him I guess-but I'm done with him. I can't have a boyfriend who ditches me like that because he's being a paranoid jerk-**twice**."

Hermione knew exactly what Alex meant. Alex could see it in Hermione's eyes. Was that why Hermione was here with Harry now? Alex blinked. It had happened again. A sudden surge in the magical attractive force which connected Alex with Hermione... and Harry too, even though he was in the next room.

Fifteen minutes later everything and everyone looked ready to go.

"Right," said Harry, "Hermione reckons that the Death Eaters-or at least the first lot anyway-are arriving right about now at the airport. So, Alex, where to?"

Alex was starting to panic and wish that Justin were around, when Max came to the rescue.

"Duh Alex, we'll just go through a portal into the Wizard World."

"What? You mean a literal Wizard World?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know if it's literal, but it's a real Wizard World." Replied Max.

Harry still couldn't tell if Max was having them all for a laugh. But Max was such a good natured kid, Harry didn't really care. Max seemed pretty cool and easygoing.

"Ignore him," said Alex rolling her eyes, then grinning, "But hey... it is a good idea. It's even harder to use tracking spells in there than it is out here. Now we just need a portal that isn't being watched by Dad!"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Jerry Russo was out of his mind. Justin had flat out told him that Alex was refusing to come home and that he was done trying to help her. She had been gone all night, hadn't been to school, and he had no idea where his daughter was.

Justin couldn't really say why he wouldn't tell his father exactly where she was. But if he was being honest he would have said it was to get back at Alex. Fine, if she wanted to go and play superhero with her new Potter playmates, he was washing his hands of it. His conscience was clear. Okay, his conscience wasn't clear. It was eating away at him. But he ignored it anyway.

When Max didn't come home from school that afternoon either, his mother began to wonder where all of her kids were. She had missed them at breakfast. She flounced into the Substation kitchen and found her husband.

"Jerry, where are all of the kids? And I don't remember seeing Alex this morning?" She backed off a few steps, slightly alarmed. Her husband looked ready to explode.

"I didn't want to worry you earlier today Teresa, but Alex didn't come home last night. She went out with Harry Potter and his girlfriend and never came back."

Teresa tried to process the information... Potter ...Potter. Now she remembered. The famous British boy. Well, she'd only ever heard good things about him. Killing Evil Wizards sounded like a very good thing to her.

"Well, we should probably ground her for staying out overnight but..." Teresa trailed off. Her husband's face was grim.

"Teresa, listen to me. That Potter boy and his girlfriend are trouble. Death Eaters... are coming here... to look for them. They escaped from prison and want revenge. I sent Justin to get her back, but she just refused. She was even going to duel Justin."

Teresa rolled her eyes. A wizard duel with her kids usually amounted to someone being turned into a sandwich or something else stupid, which was then sorted out in the end. Well... except for when they had turned Max into Maxine. That took a while. She still got a chuckle from that one.

"TERESA, Focus!" Jerry snapped his fingers. "For some reason Alex has got it into her head that she has to help Potter. But these Death Eaters are just killers. They don't come up with grandiosely lame schemes to control the Wizard World. They will just murder anyone who gets in their way."

Jerry couldn't understand why Teresa seemed so blasé. Didn't she understand the danger Alex was in? He began to turn purple. His wife spoke again.

"Look Jerry, whatever you think of your daughter, she is extremely resourceful. Besides, she's with Britain's most powerful wizard and Mason..."

"No she's not," said Mason, making the adult Russos jump. "not any more. I've brought a few of her things by. Tell Alex I hope she and her new girlfriend have a nice time."

Teresa grabbed Mason's arm, and the anger that Jerry had been looking for in his wife took flame.

"What are you talking about Mason? Where's Alex? Where's my daughter?"

Mason didn't want to deal with this now. The row with Alex that morning had been bad enough. Now Mrs Russo was practically pulling his arm out of its socket.

"Didn't Max tell you? He was there this morning!"

"Do you see Max around here Mason?" Teresa waved her arm angrily around the empty sub shop. "You aren't leaving until you tell me everything young man."

Mason shrank back. The Russo women were not to be crossed. He sat down quietly and told Jerry and Teresa everything, including the row he'd had when he went back that morning. He was mortified as he told them about breaking up with their daughter... he couldn't bring himself to repeat the rude names that he'd called Alex. He had been a bloody sod and he knew it. Alcohol and Jealous Werewolves did NOT mix well.

Teresa was fuming even more than Jerry now.

"So because YOU got my daughter drunk last night and left her to sleep it off by herself..."

"She WASN'T by herself though..."

"...You're her boyfriend Mason. Sure, I bet she's perfectly safe with Potter and his girlfriend. But you were the one we expected to look out for her." Mason looked smaller than ever.

"I know. I'm sorry Mr and Mrs Russo. I just got so jealous. Look, I know Alex doesn't deserve me alright. She made it clear. We're done for good this time."

"And Max? He's run off with them too then? Thanks a lot Mason." She shot him the dirtiest look that he'd ever seen. "I... I can't look at you anymore, get out of my shop... NOW!"

Mason slunk out of the shop door, and Teresa threw up her hands. At least they knew everything now. But Jerry wasn't sure that Teresa was angry enough about the right parts of the story. He kept trying to get a word in but she wasn't having any of it.

"Look Jerry, she's a teenage girl and she's almost 18, but she's also a very powerful and devious wizard with a "secret" good streak. So she's doing perfectly normal teenage things and making normal teenage mistakes-which she will be grounded for while we still can, but she's also taking charge of her own life. That's what she's supposed to. And even though I can't stand magic, I can see how accomplished she is and I know that she can look after herself if she has to."

"But Mason, and Justin... They were supposed to look out for her. That's what really steams me up Jerry. If Alex runs off and does crazy things I like knowing that I can rely on the men in her life to stick by her. Max is a good brother..." Teresa paused guiltily, not certain that having Max would be particularly beneficial, "...I'm sure Alex will look after him." She concluded.

Teresa caught something moving out of the corner of her eye.

"JUSTIN? oh it's you, Harper... Have you seen Justin?"

"_**SEEN**_ Justin?" Harper had a strained smirk on her face, "No, I just dragged him here after I made him tell me what a jerk he's been. Here, he's yours now!" And with a revolted look Harper pulled Justin into view, and shoved him into his parents.

"That's for leaving Alex you jerk! And you DON'T want to know what I'm going to do to Mason..." Harper gave Justin the crazy eye.

"So tell them Justin, tell them how you're going to make this right!"

"I'm... I'm going to go and help Alex do whatever crazy stuff she's going to do." Justin said with an odd mixture of bitterness and apology. "And make sure she gets home safely."

"Good!" said Jerry, "But I need to see Alex myself Justin, take me to her now."

Justin sighed.

"Alright Dad, Harper?" Then he flashed them and they were gone.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The top of the Plaza Hotel had a big smouldering crater where the 20th floor should be, and emergency responders in helicopters were flying above the scene. Smoke stung Jerry's eyes. Harper screamed. Just across the charred debris Justin could make out two figures-a boy and a girl, both with red hair.

Justin whipped out his wand, but he was too slow.

"Expelliarmus," the girl said, pointing her own wand at him. His wand flew out of his hand and she caught it smoothly. Justin cursed. He always forgot about other people having wands.

"Are... are you Death Eaters?" Stammered Justin.

"Are you mad? Do we look like Death Eaters to you? So who are you lot then?" The girl gestured towards the cowering Harper and Jerry Russo. "What are you doing here?"

"I... We're looking for my sister Alex. She was here last night with Harry Potter and his girlfriend."

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were definitely here then?" The girl asked sharply.

"Yes... With my sister, Alex, and now she's... gone!" Justin couldn't pretend the tears running down his sooty face were from the smoke anymore. He shouldn't have left Alex. This was all his fault.

The red haired girl's features softened.

"It's alright you know. They weren't here when this happened. I reckon whoever did this, did it just because they were angry at being too late or wanted to make a point." She tossed Justin his wand back, "My name is Ginny, and that's my brother George. We've come to find our friends Harry and Hermione before Dolohov and the Carrows do. If you want to find your sister we should work together."

Justin looked to his father and Harper. They both nodded vigorously.

"Of course Justin, say yes! And... get us out of here please!" said Jerry.

A short while later, after everyone had cleaned up at the Russo's apartment above the Sub Station, the two Weasleys and the Russos sat around a table in the sub-shop eating sandwiches and discussing the events.

Jerry put the news on the big-screen. Footage of the crater atop the Plaza Hotel filmed from helicopters was accompanied by a voice-over.

"At about 2:30 pm Eastern time an unexplained explosion rocked Manhattan when it took off the top floor of the Plaza Hotel today. We are being told that so far 7 bodies have been recovered, and 12 people are still unaccounted for. For more on this story we go to our own Elaine Gregory."

"Elaine, what can you tell us so far, is this the work of terrorists as some have suggested?"

"Nobody knows yet Michael. Fire Officials haven't even been able to determine the source of the explosion yet."

Jerry turned the news back down and turned to the somber group.

"This is bad, very, very bad. See, what I was telling you Justin. Killing is fun for these people."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

By the time Rowle, Dolohov, and the Carrows had arrived at the hotel suite, Potter was gone. It had taken them a short while to track Potter from the airport. The cab-driver had given up the information without hesitation. But Alecto was hungry, and so they had wasted time waiting for her to torture the muggle. Finally Dolohov had had enough, and he announced that he was going ahead and that he would wait for the Carrows there.

Alecto was infuriated, why was she always rushed when she finally got an opportunity for some pleasure? She preferred muggle torture techniques because they were so much more inventive than the Cruciatus Curse. The process was part of the magic, and satisfaction could not be fully achieved if what should be savoured were rushed instead. Angrily, she grasped a curved blade, and slit the cabbie's throat. Some of the blood spray spattered her face. At least she got to see the light go out in his eyes and taste his blood. That was a partial release.

The extra time which they had taken wouldn't have made any difference anyway though, because Potter and his friends had clearly left hours before. The Death Eaters tried any number of spells to find traces of Potter's apparition trail. But the spells weren't working properly.

"There seems to be some sort of field that's interfering with our spells..." muttered Rowle.

"You think?" snapped Alecto sarcastically. "Of course there is, Idiot! If we want to find Potter we need to find the source of the interference and shut it down."

Rowle felt like using the Avada Kedavra curse on her right then and there. but he settled for blasting away at the suite with his wand. Amycus joined in the destruction, lazily flicking his wand. Meanwhile Alecto was conjuring a number of spells to detect at least the general direction of the source of the magical energy field.

Finally she chose a direction, based on her readings.

"Okay then, let's go. There's nothing more for us here."

As they disapparated Dolohov used a modified confringo spell to create a massive explosion which demolished the entire top floor of the world famous hotel.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Sure, I'd be happy to help. Anything for you Alex." Said Hugh Normous with a nasally voice. "My parents are out right now. You can use our Wizard portal." Hugh was the first person Alex could think of who might be inclined to help. He had had a crush on Alex since last summer. So here she was with with Max, Harry, and Hermione, standing before the Normous's family portal.

"Thanks Hugh, I knew I could count on you," said Alex, giving Hugh a hug.

As Hermione and Harry stepped through the portal into the fog, they felt a whoosh and a tingling sensation. Hermione was awed. This was a whole separate dimension, a bubble of an alternate world within the "real' world. Her senses told her that this entire reality was maintained through an immense source of magical power.

Hermione was beginning to see a pattern. She surmised that there must be an energy core which powered this plane of existence. But she could think of only one way to power the core. She pushed those thoughts aside for the moment to focus on the immediate situation.

"What's next?" she asked Max.

"Well at this point, I'd usually ask Justin, but he isn't here so Alex will have to do!" Max wore his best stupid smile.

"Oh, thanks a lot Max!" groused Alex. "Okay, Hermione, where we go depends on what you want to do. Will these Death Eaters stop hunting you if they can't find you?"

"Of course not!" Said Harry quickly. "We've got to start hunting them back, and try to stop them before they start killing people-more people I mean; I expect they've already killed some. I think the best thing for you and your country would be if Hermione and I went back to England. That would draw them away from you and we could deal with them there. Do you have a way to send us back from here?"

"NO! ...I mean yes we have a way but there is no way I'm sending you back to England, at least not without me." Said Alex.

Max nudged Harry in the ribs.

"See dude, what'd I tell you...?" he said in a loud stage whisper. Harry shook his head and smirked. Hermione giggled and Alex just stuck out her tongue at Max. But the uncomfortable truth was that Max was hitting a nerve in the three of them.

"Nooo," Alex said, shiftily looking off to the side for an excuse, but the truth just popped out "It's just that I know that if these Death Eaters exist, and that I really, really like Harry and Hermione, then I have to help them. We're connected somehow!"

"I know you are..." retorted Max, the stupid smile never once leaving his face. Alex threw up her hands with a disgusted look on her face and walked away from him.

"Okay," she said firmly to Harry, "If you and Hermione think it's better to go back to England fine, then I'm coming with you. That's the deal."

"And if Alex goes with you, then I have to come too." Said Max, "I'm not letting my sister face danger without me."

Harry was liking Max more and more. He suspected there was a lot more going on behind that stupid smile.

"Right then," began Harry, "so Hermione, I think we should..."

"...stay here because the Death Eaters are here now anyway..." continued Hermione.

"...and they'll keep looking here, and killing until they've decided that we really have gone back to England." Finished Harry. "But I have no idea what we should do next..." he admitted grimly.

Hermione had been giving that some thought. Dolohov and Rowle were ruthless, and Dolohov had a certain sort of brutal intelligence, but it was Alecto Carrow who had probably taken charge. She and her brother were sadistic murderers, but Alecto was the one with brains. She would look for a way to shut down whatever was stopping their tracking spells from working.

"Alex, is there sort of a central power station for Wizard World?" She asked.

"I think so," replied Alex. "But we'll probably have to go to City Hall to find out where. Why?"

"Because I think that the Death Eaters will be looking for the biggest power source so that they can shut it down and make it easier for them to find us. That's where Alecto will take them first, and we need to be there to stop them. She's very smart, and it won't take her long to find a way in here once she's pinpointed the location of your power core."


	20. Chapter 20

Mr and Mrs Russo fretted while Justin, George and Ginny decided what to do. Justin figured that Alex would probably take Harry and Hermione somewhere shielded from the normal world-that could only be Wizard World. But he didn't know where they would go once inside.

George spoke up.

"Alecto will want to cut off the power supply to whatever is blocking their spells. That's the way these Death Eaters think-especially Alecto. They aren't so keen to 'win the hearts and minds' so to speak. They just take what they want by killing who or whatever is standing in their way."

"Hermione will know that too then." said Ginny. "So she and Harry will have Alex take them to your central power station to head off the Death Eaters. We'd better hurry, because if Harry and Hermione and your brother and sister don't get there before the Death Eaters, we will have to."

Without further ado, Justin, Ginny and George went through the Russo's portal into the Wizard World.

Alecto had triangulated the power source. She was astounded by its enormity, and the fact that it was hidden in a reality pocket just out of phase with the "normal world." They would need a portal to get in. And the portals were relatively easy to locate now that Alecto had discovered the frequencies the power was operating on. She picked the closest one.

TJ Taylor's life had been turned upside down ever since the Russos had freed his parents from his control, and Alex had exposed his Magical Abuse of a Normal. He had been a shoo-in for the Family Wizard Contest because he was an only child. But now his powers had been suspended indefinitely. He had been searching for months through his family's lair for something, anything that he could use against his parents to bring them back under his thumb, but to no avail.

Once he found something though, he'd show them, he'd show them all. The first thing he was going to do when he got his powers back was destroy Alex Russo. As far as he was concerned, it was her fault that he'd ended up losing his powers.

A loud explosion shook the lair, slamming TJ against the Wizard Bookcase. TJ groaned. Blood was trickling from a cut on his forehead, and one of his ribs felt like it was broken. There was a gaping smoking hole in the wall to his family's lair. Four dangerous looking strangers stepped through the hole in the wall.

"Wha... Who are you? What's going on?" TJ whimpered. A chuckle was the only reply. Alecto pointed to what looked like a wall made out of stained glass.

"There, that's the portal. Amycus, the boy is yours, but be quick."

"I'll... I'll show you a portal..." muttered TJ before a wickedly curved blade slit his throat. Amycus hated being rushed through a kill as much as his sister did. But he didn't waste any time complaining about it. If his sister was telling him to hurry, he knew they were in trouble.

Once inside the portal, Alecto held out the palm of her right hand and placed her wand on it with her left. The wand spun around several times, then came to a halt, pointing off to their right.

"This way," said Alecto, "We can't apparate inside here, so get a move-on." she barked. Rowle and Dolohov restrained themselves yet again and just kept moving. When this was over...

Hermione looked over the city hall department directory. It was nearly incomprehensible, but if she could manage runes and arithmancy, she ought to be able to find her way through a 4 dimensional maze. There it was. The power core was right next to the Power Transference Room which Alex had told them about in her story about the time she had prevented Stevie from destroying the transference. Hermione stiffened, her suspicions confirmed.

The Wizard Competition, the Power Transference, the Wizard World Energy Grid... it was all powered by the wizards who ostensibly "gave up" their powers to their siblings. Nobody lost their powers at all; this place ran on their powers-without their knowledge or consent. The losing wizard's magic was coded to the Power Core through the "Transference" machine. Once done so, the Core would draw on that wizard's magic directly, effectively rendering them powerless wherever they went in the world.

Alex's friend Stevie had been on the right track, it was a shame how that had ended thought Hermione. This was awful. The very thing which they needed to prevent the Death Eaters from shutting down was keeping millions of wizards hostage and subverting their magic. Hermione gritted her teeth, there was nothing else she could do.

Right now her goal was to protect as many people as possible, and that meant leaving the Core intact. She understood why the Establishment of the American Wizard World had created such a system. It provided a level of security and a sanctuary for Magical Beings unparalleled in the Western World... but at what cost?

"Okay, Alex, the power core is right next to the power transference room. You've been there, so we'll follow you." Said Hermione.

"Say what?" asked Alex, who didn't like what she was hearing. Her brows furrowed "I had no idea... I always assumed it was in some industrial type area, not here." She pushed her suspicions aside, but she couldn't help thinking sadly about Stevie. "We'd better go then. We're going this way," Alex said pointing down a corridor to their right.

They made their way through an Escher's Maze of hallways, elevators and staircases.

"There, over there, look..." shouted Alex, it's the second door down on the left.

Then everything went black. The grid was down.


	21. Chapter 21

Harry and Hermione lit their wands. The Russo siblings tried to light theirs with no luck. It must be a failsafe, Hermione thought. Some sort of secondary generator which was dedicated to suppressing the magical powers of the rest of the American Wizard World. Though, obviously the Oligarchs of this world must keep their own powers "off-the-grid." Or else they wouldn't be able to fix it when it went down.

They slowly crept down the hallway expecting to see Death Eaters any second now. They weren't disappointed. A wand pointed out of the shadows and fired off an Avada Kedavra curse directly at Harry who didn't see the green sparks until it was too late. Hermione and Alex both screamed.

Alex had been closer to Harry and seen the wand just as it appeared. She screamed "NO!" and shoved Harry away from the blast, taking the full hit. She dropped and hit the floor with a sickening thud.

Harry froze... Sirius was falling again through an empty ancient doorway, Cedric lay dead next to a graveside, his mother screamed and there was a green flash. He hadn't known Alex long enough to know if he could have ever loved her like he loved Hermione. But knowing that Alex had died to protect him tipped him into a rage that he didn't know was still inside of him.

It was Bellatrix all over again, but this time Harry meant the Unforgivable Curse he fired at Dolohov. The green light hit Dolohov in his chest and he collapsed in a lifeless heap. Hermione was crying, under any other circumstances she would have been shocked that Harry had wielded the Killing Curse. But she was so angry herself, that she fired her own curses towards the door of the Power Core, hoping that one of them would hit a Death Eater trying to escape from the room.

Max was dragging his sister back into the shadows, away from all of the ricocheting spells, his heart pounding. He was more scared than he ever had been in his life. He didn't know if Alex was alive or dead. He couldn't see, so he put his head to her chest. Max couldn't hear a breath or a heartbeat. He was too terrified to cry or do much of anything, but he wasn't leaving his sister. Max cradled Alex in his shaking arms.

Alecto, Amycus, and Rowle could hear the fighting continue outside the door that Dolohov had been guarding. Alecto cracked the door again, firing several more random curses before slamming it shut once more. The only way to escape now would be to apparate, which they could do now that the grid was down, but Alecto didn't want to lose Potter. She had come too far. She aimed her wand at the computers controlling the core containment field and blasted it into a heap of melted circuit boards.

Now they could apparate, certain that the resulting blast from the core breach would wipe out anything in the immediate vicinity. Alecto just had one more thing to do before she left. Rowle was distracted by another curse rebounding off the door. He didn't notice the curved blade until he felt it slice through his neck. Blood sprayed everywhere, his head nearly severed from his body.

Amycus laughed maniacally. Rowle's body reminded him of Nearly Headless Nick. But Amycus doubted that Rowle had made the necessary arrangements to remain bound to the Earth.

"He's had that one coming for a while. Nice one, Alecto." He cackled.

"Shut it!" Alecto snapped, "We're leaving now, if Potter doesn't die in the explosion at least it'll be easier to find him." She grabbed her brother and disapparated.

Hermione and Harry both felt it. The core was unstable. They couldn't do anything now. They ran back the way they came and tripped over Alex and Max. They each grabbed a Russo and disapparated barely in time. The explosion of the core ripped through the City Hall complex and the blast radius kept expanding until it swallowed up the entire central city of the Wizard World.

Hermione and Harry reappeared a good distance from the city and watched in horror as the Mushroom cloud lit up the Wizard World. Harry wondered if the radioactive fallout was going to kill them slowly. Hermione reminded him that it wasn't a nuclear explosion, but a magical one. Neither one of them noticed that they hadn't spoken aloud.

They turned their attention to Alex and Max. Max, as stoic as ever despite his terror, was still trying to revive Alex. They didn't have the heart to stop him. But Hermione gently pulled Max back.

"Let us try Max," said Hermione quietly, knowing that it would be futile. Harry was the only known survivor of the Killing Curse. There was no magic spell that bring Alex back. Though it had been less than 5 minutes since Alex had been hit, Hermione knew that CPR couldn't revive someone hit by a killing curse either; but she began compressing Alex's rib-cage anyway.

"Harry, you breathe for her okay," said Hermione shakily. Harry obeyed. Hermione pressed on methodically and Harry breathed into Alex. Something impossible was happening... Hermione stopped pressing because she could feel a pulse. Alex gasped and Harry stopped giving her mouth to mouth resuscitation. Alex coughed a few times and began to choke. Harry immediately rolled Alex on her side and she vomited.

Seeing his sister moving again released the energy Max had been using to hold himself together, and he began to cry. He wanted to hug Alex and never let go. But instead he let Hermione and Harry hold onto Alex.

"What happened Hermione?" asked Harry quietly while he cradled Alex's head and upper body.

"I don't know Harry." Hermione replied. "But... but if I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with the magical bond we seem to share. We must have been sort of like horcruxes. The part of her we share must have kept her from being killed outright by the spell, allowing us to bring her back the old-fashioned muggle way. I've cast a couple of simple healing charms, so she'll be alright in a few more minutes." Alex stirred and opened her eyes, blinking in the twilight of the firestorm dying down in the distance.

"Harry... wha... what happened to me?" asked Alex groggily. "I... I thought I was dead!"

"You were almost for a few minutes." Replied Harry. "Technically, you should still be dead, nobody else has survived that curse before except me. But Hermione and I managed to resuscitate you anyway. According to Hermione, you're alive because we're alive. That magic bond we keep feeling, it has something to do with it."

"You saved me..." Alex started to say...

"...After you saved me!" Said Harry earnestly. "And it was Hermione who knew what to do." Alex grinned and some colour came back into her cheeks. She had never known someone so selfless that they wouldn't even take the credit they deserved. Not Justin, who, despite a penchant for rules, was as selfish and conniving as the rest of the Russos. Not Max, who was always taking credit when he had done nothing. Not even Harper, who was more like the Russos than she would ever care to admit.

Hermione and Harry helped Alex up into a sitting position, one on each side of her. Suddenly, before Harry had anything to say about it, Alex kissed him full on the lips. He was about to back away but Hermione wouldn't let go of the arm he had clasped behind Alex's back. When Alex stopped, she looked soulfully into his eyes, then she turned her head the other direction and kissed Hermione too.

Hermione was startled, but she didn't pull away either. She had let Alex have the kiss with Harry because Alex deserved it. Hermione hadn't expected a kiss herself. She had never imagined that she would kiss another girl in that way. But kissing Alex felt every bit as nice as kissing Harry.

Max mused that he had been right after all. Harry did have two girlfriends. And yes, it was kinda hot. And yes, it was also awkward because one of the girls was his sister. Max heard footsteps approaching. Wizard World was falling back into darkness as the flames in the city died down. Anxiously he looked around.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Ginny, George, and Justin stood there looking confunded.

They had spotted Alex kissing Harry and Hermione looking on approvingly as they approached. Ginny was angrily wondering why she had even bothered to come looking for Harry. But when Alex turned and kissed Hermione too, Ginny forgot to be cross. She was too stunned. George's expression changed from stunned to bemused, and then into a grin.

Justin looked like he was about to go into shock. His sister was kissing a _girl_? That was a new one on him. He hadn't seen that coming at all. But after he got over his initial surprise, Justin nodded with a slightly smug expression, which looked a bit like Max's "stupid face." He wondered what his parents would think, but then he realised it didn't matter what they thought. If Alex wanted to kiss a girl, that was her prerogative.

It was getting even darker. Justin felt like it would be wrong to interrupt, but he knew they ought to get back as soon as they could.

Justin and the Weasley siblings had been jogging towards the city through the fog when the Wizard World went black. There were some sparsely scattered emergency lights. But shortly even those had gone out, and that's when they saw the city go up in a Mushroom Cloud. All those people; Wizards, fairies, pocket-elves, and magical creatures of all sorts, their lives had been snuffed in an instant. The enormity of the tragedy had hit them all, and they had been trudging on aimlessly when they had spotted Max, Alex, Hermione, and Harry up ahead.

They needed to get back and let everyone know what was happening. Everyone's powers would be gone forever.

"Ahem.. hem," Justin coughed.

For a second Harry thought he had heard that hag Umbridge. If she had escaped from Azkaban too... But then he saw them, Justin, Ginny and George. Well this was embarrassing. Alex was still kissing Hermione, but sensed the atmosphere had changed. Slowly she turned her head and groaned...

She turned scarlet in mortification. But Justin simply gave her a big grin and rushed over to hug her. Tears streaked his own face. Seeing Alex alive after watching the Wizard World go up in a fireball was overwhelming.

"I love you Alex," Justin said, "You're the only sister I've got. And I'm sorry I forget that sometimes."

"You... you're not mad?" Alex said guiltily.

"What do I have to be angry about. You're my sister, you're alive, and it looks like you've found some people worth loving." Justin smiled gratefully at Harry and Hermione. "Thanks for saving my sister..." Justin stood up and looked around. "We should get back to the lair. Now that nobody has any powers its dangerous in here with the magical creatures who don't need the grid."

"Who says you don't have any powers?" said Hermione. "Go ahead, try lighting your wand."

"What? But that's..."

"Just try it."

Justin frowned and flicked his wand. It worked. IT WORKED! He couldn't believe it. This shouldn't be possible. He looked at Hermione questioningly.

"You're right though," she said, "We should get back now. I'll explain on the way."

"Yeah, let's go," said Harry grimly, "I'm sure that bitch Alecto and that twisted pile of dung Amycus got out of there. Dolohov is dead for certain, and I'm not sure about Rowles. So we should get out of here and get to somewhere safe."

"We'll go back to the lair for now," said Justin. "If we really do all still have our powers, then we'll be able to put up some protection charms."

They started the walk back. Ginny sidled up to Harry with a sly smile.

"Good to see you alive... again." She said. "It's weird, I disobeyed Mum, and came all this way, because I thought I was still in love with you. And when I saw you kiss Alex, I felt so angry... but then Alex kissed Hermione too and... I realised I was just doing it because I was selfish. I wanted you back, all for myself."

Harry couldn't think of anything to say. He opened his mouth, and shut it again.

"I'll always love you Harry. But I think I'm finally okay with just being a friend now." Harry smiled at Ginny, the tension draining away.

"Thanks Ginny. I'm glad you're okay. I never wanted to hurt you."

"You've apologised to me plenty of times Harry Potter. This is me apologising to you." Ginny gave Harry a peck on his cheek. Then she giggled. "You know, this is probably going to sound horrible, but I can't wait to see Ron's face when you come back to England with **two** girlfriends." She laughed and jumped out of the way when Harry tried to shove her.

"Get on with you." Harry laughed. "You're almost as bad as this lot here." Harry gestured towards the Russo siblings who were walking slightly ahead, chatting to Hermione.

"Don't forget me Harry." chuckled George. "I'll be taking pictures of you with Hermione and Alex and posting them on Ron's bedroom door." This time Harry aimed a swift kick at George's derriere and guffawed.

**To be continued... **

_This is the end of Part 1 _

_Next up in Part 2: Two Death Eaters down and Two to go. The American Wizard World is in an uproar when it is discovered how their powers had been stolen-and now they have them back. _


	23. Chapter 23

** Part 2**

**The Stone of Dreams**

Author Notes:

_1) One of the things I really love about posting stories online, is that I can go back in and edit out any rubbish I find, or revise a clunky paragraph, add a paragraph, correct a typo etc. It's a luxury that most print authors can rarely take advantage of. People will often point to George Lucas's clunky revisions of the original Star Wars as what is wrong with revising a piece of art after the fact. But that is not always the case._

_Long before Peter Jackson got a hold of the material, Tolkien himself revised the Hobbit for the second edition to reflect changes in the character arcs which he had developed in Lord of the Rings. He made a substantial change not only to the character of Gollum, but to the entire sequence of events regarding how Bilbo came by the Ring. In the first version he won it in a bet and left Gollum on rather amiable terms, in the second, Bilbo nabs the ring when he finds it lying about and a much grouchier Gollum pursues him yelling "thief, thief..."_

_Well, I don't think any of my edits of the first 22 chapters are as drastic as that, but reading back through the chapters, I had found a terrible cliche, some typos, a clunky paragraph, unclear dialogue character assignment and point of view sequences, missing words, extra words, missing an expositional sentence etc... :P_

_Not all of the mistakes have been corrected at this time. That will be an ongoing process for at least the next month or two._

_Anyhoo, The whole point is that for me, writing this, and other pieces of fanfic are part of a learning process which translates into writing my original works better. Which is why I like constructive reviews. After two reviewers for my last piece set in the Potterverse both zeroed in on a cliche which I had carried over from the original source, I realised that I was attached to an idea which wasn't a particularly good one when the original author used it, and it stuck out like a wart that needing a good chopping. So I filleted a paragraph, and rewrote a few sentences._

_I don't generally use betas because I prefer to do all of my own edits and revisions without being influenced to write something in a way that I wouldn't usually. We all have to be true to our own styles of writing, even as we strive to perfect them. But, I do take critiques seriously and I invite people who have read up to this point to do so._

_2) Regarding the sexual and violent content of this story, I actually **had not planned to write any of it at all.** This was intended to be rated T, not M. **eyeroll** _

_I had a solid plot outline, but nothing about how the characters would behave. Which is because I chose to let the characters speak for themselves, based more or less on their personae as portrayed in the canon of their respective franchises._

_All of the main characters in the story began rewriting my story. The basic plot thread was still there, but the characters demanded to grow up in some crucial respects-which included engaging in sexual activity. It altered the entire theme and structure of the story in many ways, but hopefully without devolving into some of the more lurid and painfully written (though occasionally more entertaining ;) ) pornographic fanfics. __  
_

_This was supposed to be more of a fantasy/adventure, but it really ended up being a character driven romantic/horror story with only a few elements of fantasy/adventure._

_I hadn't intended the semi-graphic violence (though frankly, I've read worse in Twilight... Chewing a vampire baby out of a lover's womb? Really Stephenie Meyer? You know Tweens are reading that don't you? :P And I've seen worse in Criminal Minds), but the growing up of the characters in my story demanded a more honest and brutal portrayal of the darker characters too. (Okay, I suppose I can cut Stephenie some slack too)._

_Anyway, these are some of the things I've been thinking about while I've been writing this._

* * *

**Chapter 23**

It was quite a crowd in the Russo's Wizard Lair when the 7 young Wizards arrived. Not only were they greeted by an anxious Mr and Mrs Russo, but also two other Wizards that Harry, Hermione, George, and Ginny knew very well. Hagrid and Kingsley Shacklebolt made an imposing pair in the cramped quarters. But somehow, no matter what, there was always still plenty of room in the lair, despite it's claustrophobic feel. This wasn't the first time that the Russo's had hosted giants. Hugh Normous's parents had been twice the size of Hagrid.

Nevertheless, it was bedlam. Jerry and Teresa were taking turns smothering a very embarrassed Alex who kept trying to slip from their clutches. Ginny and Max were taking turns showing off their best magical pranks to each other while Justin begged them to stop and George egged them on. Kingsley and Hagrid were apologising profusely to Harry and Hermione for not arriving sooner.

"Never mind that," said Harry. "You found us as soon as you could, and I'm glad you're here. Look we've got to get some serious protection spells up around this whole building right now, before Alecto gets a chance to discover the Russos' home. She and Amycus are still alive, I'm sure of it."

"Still alive? Then... it's true?" began Kingsley, his voice shaking, "That...that the explosion in the distance which we saw through the portal...?"

"Was the main city of the American Wizard World... Yeah!" replied Harry soberly. It was almost too overwhelming to accept. "And if Hermione's right-and she nearly almost always is-then millions of American Wizards will soon realise that their powers were being stolen from them."

"Anyway, time for more chitchat later." Harry continued authoritatively. "Shacklebolt, you get Mr Russo over there and Justin-he's the one over there-and work out the security arrangements. Hermione and I will settle everyone in a minute after that's done, and explain what she thinks is happening." Shacklebolt quickly strode across the room and gently tapped Jerry Russo on the shoulder. Hagrid immediately swooped Hermione and Harry into his massive arms and squashed them both in one incredible bear-hug.

"I'm so glad we found ye' Harry!" Hagrid said, with a huge gulp that was almost a sob. "It was unbearable, wondering where ye'd got off too. I wondered if that hotel explosion got ye', an' then just now I hoped that ye' weren't caught in that... that... I dunno-Explosion seems too small a word to describe what happened to tha' city" Hagrid gulped again, and released the crushed young Wizards in his arms.

"We're SO glad to see you too Hagrid," Hermione's face beamed briefly, before darkening again. "But can you go and look after Max-that's the other one-and the Weasleys for a minute. I've... I mean Harry and I have got to see to Alex-the girl over there trying to escape from her mother. She almost died not much more than an hour ago." Harry glanced at Hermione, frowning slightly.

"Wha'? Oh, alrigh' then," replied Hagrid, feeling a bit rebuffed. "Well, it's been a bit since I've seen any of the Weasley's anyway." He said resignedly.

"What did you do that for?" asked Harry, feeling a bit hurt. "I didn't get a chance to properly say hello."

"I'm sorry Harry... we need to help Alex right now." said Hermione. "She'll still be very fragile-probably through the night-and her mum is smothering her." Harry looked again and saw that Hermione was right. Alex was wilting in her mother's grasp and looked ready to pass out. Mrs Russo was so overcome with emotion that she was totally oblivious.

Harry stepped into Teresa's path abruptly, startling her and catching her eye. He smiled brightly and reached out to shake her hand.

"Hello Mrs Russo, I'm Harry Potter. It's very nice to meet you." Teresa stared at Harry, her damp eyes growing bigger. She fluttered her lashes at him very much like her daughter had, making him blush slightly. Harry could see where Alex got her vivaciousness from.

"Harry... Harry... Please, call me Teresa," she said gregariously, and ignoring his hand she opened her arms and pulled him in for a hug which was nearly as bone-breaking as Hagrid's. "Thank you sooooo much for saving my daughter..."

Harry began to tell her that Alex had saved him too, but Teresa was having none of it. She was different from Molly Weasley in every conceivable way, but they had one thing in common: they were both formidable women, and not to be underestimated.

"So modest!" Teresa said breathily, in a display of flattery, "I'm delighted to meet you Harry. I have to tell you, I really appreciate the lengths you have gone to, to protect us-what is it you English say-right, to protect us muggles. Anyone who kills Evil Wizards is someone I'd like to know." she said with radiant smile. Harry wondered if all American women were this blunt.

"That's why I'm so proud of my daughter," Teresa continued. "She saved Justin and the Wizard World from Gorog and his "Angels of Darkness" creeps, and won the Wizard of the Year award. Don't let anyone tell you that she can't handle herself." Harry definitely concurred. "And I can see why Alex likes you so much," Teresa gushed, "You're much better for her than Mason."

If Harry had been drinking, he would have done a spit-take. His eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped. Max he could understand, but Alex's mum saying that unnerved him. What was with this family?

"Erm... I'm sorry Mrs Russo. I, er... don't think my girlfriend Hermione would be too keen on Alex and me getting together," retorted Harry, with a thoroughly bemused expression.

"Oh really," said Teresa smiling, "She doesn't look like she'd mind in the least." Harry turned around, and he was forced to admit that Hermione looked sort of like she was holding a lover, her right hand directly over Alex's heart. Harry would have normally automatically assumed that it was just a healing spell. But seeing it from a mother's perspective, he could completely understand Teresa's reaction.

But it wasn't _just_ Teresa's reaction he realised. He could feel the warmth of Hermione's right hand over his own heart. He felt it as he had the first night they had been together. A pulse of energy coursed through him bringing with it a surge of emotion. How could he not love Alex? She was a part of him, and he of her, and Hermione of them both. It almost overtook him but then the feeling subsided as Hermione concluded the healing spell.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

After Hermione had finished with Alex, she shushed everyone.

"Alright then, this is important, can someone please hand Mr Russo a wand?"

"Here, Dad, you can hold mine," said Justin. Jerry looked extremely puzzled.

"What is this? What's going on?"

"Just hold it Dad. If Hermione is right... well, you'll see." Justin tossed his wand and his father caught it. Sparks shot out of the end, and Jerry gasped. He could feel his whole body buzzing with magic again for the first time since he'd married his wife and given his powers to his brother. He tried a spell, and a jug of lemonade appeared in thin air and poured itself into a glass which had also just appeared and hovered in front of him.

Jerry took a sip of the lemonade.

"IT WORKS!" he squealed loudly and gleefully. I can't believe it. I have powers again." Then he stiffened and frowned. "But that's impossible. The Wizard Power Grid is down. Nobody should be able to use magic-well except for you English guys I guess."

Hermione took a deep breath and explained how the power grid had worked. Jerry's face grew darker and darker. He couldn't believe it, but what Hermione was saying made perfect sense. Everything fit now. It was horrific that exposing the truth had come at the cost of a city full of Wizards and magical beings who had been vaporised. The Wizard Council had been hiding it for years. The Wizard World had been created by constantly draining the powers of every wizard who had ever believed that they were transferring their powers to a sibling.

Once Jerry had heard everything, he was appalled.

"This is going to change everything," he said with an oddly calm voice. "Nobody will want to give up their magic again. I don't know what's going to happen next. Everybody is going to be upset about losing Wizard World City and trying to pick up the pieces. But there will also be a LOT of angry Wizards. I'm one of them."

"Fortunately I still have my old wand." continued Jerry. "We need to find out what's happening and who-if anyone-is in charge. I'll take care of that. You'll be needed too Justin. As a Monster Hunter you might be one of the few Wizard Officials left in the government. It's your duty to step up."

"What about Alex?" asked Justin apprehensively. "Shouldn't I stay with her?" His father looked pained. Jerry hated the idea of Alex being on the run with Harry Potter without Justin to look out for her, but there was nothing he could do.

"I think Alex will be okay. It looks like she's got a lot of other Wizards to look out for her right now." He caught Kingsley's eye, who walked over to Jerry.

"Hagrid and I will contact our Ministry immediately for assistance." Kingsley said. "Without your grid operating, most of your protections from discovery by muggles will be offline; in Britain we deal with this daily. You will need a lot of us given the gravity of the situation."

"Thank you," said Jerry gratefully. He glanced at Harry who was speaking quietly to George. Shacklebolt spoke again.

"Harry and Hermione will seek out Alecto and Amycus Carrow and do whatever is necessary to stop them. They're good at that sort of thing." Which was exactly what was bothering Jerry. Kingsley tried to reassure him. "Your son Max has chosen to remain with your daughter, wherever she goes with Harry and Ms Granger. And they will all have the additional protections of the Weasleys who have also elected to stay with the hunt."

In fact, Max and Ginny seemed to be really be hitting it off with each other. Max had Ginny in stitches with his daft antics. Normally, Max would be using some of his prank spells on Justin or his dad. But it didn't really seem appropriate at the moment, so he was hexing himself. Max had just shown Ginny the feet for hands spell and she was roaring with laughter.

"We'll stay here for the night," Harry told George. "Hermione says Alex still needs to recuperate-I suppose we all do. I'll have to see if Mr and Mrs Russo have a spot where you and Ginny can kip for a bit too."

Jerry and Teresa were extremely welcoming. But Jerry bit his tongue when Hermione insisted that Harry would have to stay with her while she kept an eye on Alex through the night-in Alex's room. That made him a bit uncomfortable, thinking about a boy spending the night in Alex's room. But he couldn't really say anything without seeming like a jerk.

Ginny and George were offered Harper's basement room for the night, as she had fled to Zeke's parents' house when she realised that the Russo's apartment would be full of Wizards. She had freaked out at the idea that there would be so many-especially after Hagrid arrived. Hagrid may have only been a half-giant, but Harper didn't know that. At 11 and a half feet tall, the hairy Hagrid towered over her, and when he had bent down to introduce himself she had shrieked and run out of the room.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

The following morning, police were swarming all over a crime scene in a Brooklyn Heights townhouse. A family had been brutally slaughtered and butchered. A 7 pointed star had been painted in blood around the corpses, and their hearts carved from their chests. It was a particularly gruesome and horrifying scene, given that two of the corpses belonged to children who appeared to be about 5 or 6 years old. One of the dozen or so officers taking stock of the situation was vomiting in the toilet.

The NYPD detectives arriving at the scene quickly surmised that this could be the work of a circle of Occultists which they hadn't come across before. Their superiors called the FBI for some Profilers and a team was already on its way from Quantico. The coroner determined that the murders had occurred sometime around midnight.

By the time Alecto and Amycus had finished performing the dark ritual at midnight, it had been too late for it to do anything more than reveal a general vicinity for Potter and his friends-which was the entire city of New York. Unplottable charms had already been placed on wherever it was in New York that he was staying. Alecto cursed as the arrow on her map bounced from location to location.

That meant they would have to wait until Potter was on the move. The spell would keep the map activated for 24 hours. But Amycus was more sanguine about the turn of events than his sister. He was feeling particularly satiated. He had finished washing off the blood in the shower and was drying himself. Alecto was just on the other side of the open door, in the master bedroom, already cleaned up, dressed, and ready to go.

Amycus wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out from the bathroom looking for the clean muggle clothes he had set aside to wear after vanishing. He smiled at his sister who was angrily looking at the map.

"Relax," he drawled. "Don't you feel better now? I know I do. We'll get Potter eventually." He snickered loudly.

It was true. Normally dark magic was very cathartic, especially blood rituals. Blood rituals weren't merely designed to perform the required spell, but also to absorb the life-force of the sacrificial victims.

But Alecto was focused almost obsessively on Harry Potter. She had plans for Harry which she hadn't yet told her brother about. She would tell Amycus eventually of course, but only at the right time-after she had taken Potter's power for her own.

"Shut it!" She snarled at her brother, who was used to being bossed around by her, "We can't relax. American wizards may seem like undisciplined fools. But we are fools if we think they are. They managed to create and hide a WHOLE BLOODY DIMENSION from not only the muggle world, but from most of the rest of us too."

Alecto glared at her brother as he dressed, but Amycus just ignored her as he always did when his sister was being like this to him. She would get over it soon enough; the pair were inseparable. Shortly before dawn the siblings apparated to a new location, leaving the scene for the muggle authorities to deal with.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

It was shortly before midnight. Harry was sitting in comfortable recliner, while Hermione lay next to Alex who was sleeping soundly, looking none the worse for wear considering that she had been dead earlier that evening. Hermione must have learned some healing spells since the Battle of Hogwarts Harry mused. He wondered when she had found the time.

But it was certainly good for Alex that she had. CPR looked painful, and Harry wouldn't have been surprised if she'd had got some cracked ribs before Hermione used the healing spells. His thoughts then drifted to other topics.

"Hermione," began Harry quietly, "What's with all the weird rhyming spells they use here? They just seem... sort of random. Sometimes they don't sound like spells at all."

"It's a fluid memetic device Harry. I've been watching what they do. They use verbal memes to recall and shape the way the magic moves for particular spells, and direct it at the object or person to be affected. They don't necessarily have to use the same words all the time-it's the Intent that matters. Magic follows Intent. Most of the incantations for our spells in Britain are based on Latin and fixed in verbal form, but the underlying principles are the same."

Jerry and Justin arrived at Wiz-Tech about 1 am. An Emergency meeting was already in session in the main hall.

"...I'm telling you, there were very good reasons why the Wizard Council kept this all a secret." Professor Crumbs was saying to the unruly group, Chancellor Rootie Tootietootie stood beside him, also trying to settle the crowd.

"Please, calm down. It's more important that we tend to the survivors of the Wizard World disaster right now."

"I agree," said Jerry loudly. Everyone turned their heads to see him and Justin. "Look, I'm as angry as the rest of you. But we should be thankful that we have our powers back and just suck it up while we've got work to do. A lot of people need our help."

Professor Crumbs looked at Jerry gratefully. The Russos always managed to surprise him he thought. And he was especially pleased to see Justin who he was training as his successor (though Justin didn't know that was what Crumbs had been doing).

"Justin, thank goodness you're here." Crumbs said with overt relief, "Most of what is left of our government you see right here. After me and the Chancellor, you, Helen and Mr Stuffleby are the highest ranking officials of Wizard World left." Justin opened his mouth in shock. Helen waved at him.

All of a sudden he felt a heavy weight fall on him and he staggered, but his father caught him.

"It's okay Justin, you can do this." Said Jerry, "I know you're up to it. Go on. Get up there with Professor Crumbs and the Chancellor." Justin grimaced.

"Okay... breathe," Justin told himself, "I got this Dad... I think." Then Justin anxiously made his way to the podium.

"There are already emergency teams in the city looking for survivors and setting up triage centres." Said the Chancellor. "But with no power grid, we are literally in the dark. The Wizard World dimension is stable, but without power we are at a great disadvantage for rescuing people and clearing streets.."

"So we just need to get a new power source and hook it up to the grid. That shouldn't be too hard." Justin groaned in exasperation. But a thought came to him.

"Wait, do we have to use magic to power the grid? Couldn't normal electricity be used to at least power up anything that doesn't need magic to operate-like lights and stuff?" Asked Justin.

"Well... I suppose," replied Crumbs skeptically. "Theoretically, as the circuits for the magical energy are made out of the same conductive materials for normal technology, they ought to carry an electrical charge. But the power differentials will be staggering."

"It'll be all we have to work with." Said Justin, "We have to at least try and divert a large source of electrical energy into the grid."

"I concur," Said Chancellor Tootietootie, "Helen, Mr Stuffleby, what do you think?" Helen looked at Justin, and smiled sympathetically.

"Oh, I'm sure Justin is right. Whatever he says, I'm all for it." Helen responded, her smile widening as she slightly blushed. She thought Justin was kind of cute, and he'd really impressed her with his dedication to teaching. She trusted Justin to do what it took to get through this crisis.

Mr Stuffleby nodded in agreement. He really had no idea what the right thing to do was. He had just been preparing to agree with whatever everyone else agreed with.

So now all they needed was a plan. Justin considered the options.

"I think we're going to have to tap into a nuclear power plant. It's the only thing that will generate the amounts of power we need. And we'll have to tap directly into the plasma generated by the nuclear core, not the electricity generated by it. But we'll need a Receiver and a Transformer of some sort on the Wizard World side."

Professor Crumbs steepled his fingers.

"I think we have some engineers who can work on this end then." He said. "But we don't have anybody who knows how to work with nuclear reactors."

"Leave that to me," said Justin. "I have some normal friends who are great with technology. I'll just need help securing a nuclear facility while we work."

"I can help with that," said Jerry eagerly, "Now that I've got my powers back I can actually be useful." Jerry saw his son looking at him with doubt. "Son, I was really good with magic. Trust me, I'm not like Kelbo. I can help." Justin peered at his father appraisingly.

"Okay then, but we'll need more help." He said finally.

"I think we can help with that," said a deep authoritative voice. The councillors looked up and saw that Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hagrid, and a squad of British Aurors had arrived.

"Hagrid and I will go with Justin Russo. This is Henry Fitzwallace, head of the International Division of the Department of Aurors" Shacklebolt said, pointing to the Auror next to him. "The Aurors are at your service, just tell Henry who you need doing what and he'll see to it. The Minister of Magic also has more Aurors, and teams of rescue and medical personnel on their way. I'll leave it to you, Councillors, to organise them as you see fit."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"So what do you think we should do next Hermione?" Whispered Harry when they both stirred. It was about 6:00 in the morning. "Alecto will be casting tracking spells at random, and she will find us eventually once we leave here, even if it takes her a while. We could track her back, but I was thinking that..."

"...we should lure her away from New York and then allow her to find us..." continued Hermione.

"...and set a trap for the both of them," Finished Harry.

"No," said Alex, startling Harry and Hermione who had thought she was still asleep. "We're going to go and find the Stone of Dreams."

"The Stone of Dreams?" Said Harry and Hermione simultaneously, both looking at Alex questioningly.

"It's the most powerful magical object in our wizarding world here. We'll need it, and then we can fix everything." Alex said assertively. She started to feel a little anxious as neither Harry or Hermione said anything for several seconds, just looking at her.

"Well...?" She asked plaintively. Then her eyebrows lifted with a surprise, after which she grinned broadly, "Oh,.. oh, I didn't expect you to agree so quickly. That's awesome. But... but..." It took Alex a second to realise that Hermione and Harry hadn't spoken aloud. Weird, she thought before finishing her own sentence aloud, frowning, "but why did you agree so fast? I was sure you were going to argue with me. Everyone argues with me."

Hermione smiled.

"It's because we trust you Alex." She said simply.

Alex looked puzzled. Nobody just trusted Alex she thought to herself.

"We need to lure the Carrows away from so many muggles anyway before trying to capture them." Said Harry, "I think we're capable of taking them whether we have the Stone or not. But if you think it's that important to find it first..."

"...then that's what we're doing." finished Hermione. "do you know where it is Alex?"

"I bet they moved it after last time... " Alex saw their blank expressions, "Oh... I didn't tell you about that one yet. I... I had to find the Stone of Dreams and I had to use it... because I messed things up really badly..." Alex didn't finish the story. She couldn't bring herself to. What she had accidentally done to make it necessary to find the Stone still made her cringe in shame. She felt the guilt strongly whenever she thought about it.

"It's alright," said Harry softly. He knew what it was like to make a mistake in anger with potentially dire consequences. He remembered Aunt Marge bouncing like a beach-ball on the ceiling of the Dursley's and felt a powerful wave of empathy towards Alex. Harry briefly lost himself in Alex's eyes before they both looked away blushing. Alex pulled herself together.

"Anyway," she continued, "I don't know where they would have hidden it again. The last time was in a cave on an island. But it's the most powerful magical thing, so there must be someway to find it."

"I think we can work it out." Said Hermione. "I've read of a powerful spell, but it can only be done with at least three Wizards. All three of us together should be able to generate a strong enough spell to detect precisely where the Stone is if it's anywhere in the same hemisphere facing the sun at midday wherever we are." Hermione then turned beet red.

"But, there's a catch..." Hermione was almost too embarrassed to say it. "It's... it's s...sex magic," she stammered.

"At the... erm, peak of the experience, the magical energy generated is strong enough to detect a wizard or magical artifact wherever they are in the hemisphere you are centred in. It's better than the other way..." Hermione finished defensively. Harry and Alex were blushing furiously, momentarily speechless.

"Other way?" Alex then asked with a questioning look.

"Dark Magic. I... I'd rather spare you the details..."

"Tell me..." said Alex forcefully, "I'm not a baby. I can take it."

Harry felt another sudden surge of affection towards Alex.

"Okay," said Hermione, "The other way is to perform a dark ritual at midnight-and wherever you are-you can detect the precise location of wizards or magical objects in that hemisphere. It's a reversal of the spell we're going to use-it's Death instead of Life." A grieved expression darkened Hermione's features.

"It's a Blood Magic ritual; you have to murder at least three people with special knife, draw a septagram around them in their blood, then... Oh it's just all too gruesome. Then you have to cut out their hearts and eat them. And... and at least one of them has to be..." Hermione couldn't say the word. It sounded even more revolting because of the implications in the context of dark magic rituals. So she just fudged a little bit. "...one of the victims has to be a young child. That's why almost all wizards use special instruments for tracking and things like foe glasses-but they're quite hard to get at the moment. Most of them were destroyed by the Ministry when Voldemort had taken it over. And... and I think Alecto and Amycus would just do the dark ritual for the fun of it anyway."

It was horrible. Alex had no idea that Wizards would do such vile things just for a magic spell. Yeah, she had heard that Voldemort and his followers tortured and killed people, but this was beyond that, this was just sick. Alex began feeling nauseous.

Alex had never really believed the stuff about Satanists, because that is what most normals-especially the more zealously religious ones-usually seemed to think Wizards were. But these people used magic so dark, she could understand how people might think they were Satanic rituals. This level of evil really was beyond anything Gorog and the Dark Angels had ever done.

But for some reason Alex didn't feel scared about it, just angry and a bit sad. Then she remembered what the other option for the magic spell was and groaned. Alex hid her face again.

About all she had ever done with her boyfriends had been some kissing and a little groping. And once, Alex and Harper had tried making out to see what it was like. But that had felt weird and a little creepy, like what Alex thought kissing her brothers might feel like. Sometimes she would play with herself and think about doing more-especially with Mason-but she always felt too embarrassed to talk about it or do anything about it.

If Mason had ever asked, Alex thought she might have said yes. But he had never broached the subject either. Alex definitely felt sexy around Hermione and Harry, but she hadn't really thought about trying anything more than kissing and fooling around.

Harry was feeling similarly embarrassed. Having sex with Hermione hadn't made it any easier to talk about sex with other people. But there was no question that Alex stirred erotic feelings in him. Harry wondered if he would be too embarrassed to perform-assuming that Hermione and Alex were both game of course. They were both looking at Harry. But Hermione didn't seem as unnerved as he and Alex felt.

"Maybe... maybe we should give it a go." She said quietly. "But only if everyone wants to of course!" She looked Alex in the eyes, and they both felt it. Alex looked at Harry and felt it too.

"I... I guess. Yeah," said Alex with a shy smile, briefly looking very vulnerable. "But, I don't think I could do it here. Not in the middle of the day-with my family on the other side of the door." Alex looked imploringly at Hermione, hoping she would have an answer. Which she did of course.

"Erm... Harry and I have traveled under similar conditions before. We know all sorts of enchantments to prevent detection around a small area, though it does take a minute to set them up. That's when we risk exposing ourselves if Alecto sets off any tracking spells. But with a bit of luck, she won't be doing it at the same time that we're setting up the enchantments."

"We'll find a nice place..." Hermione finished.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

It had been about 3:30 in the morning; the Emergency Council meeting had adjourned 1/2 an hour earlier. Justin had woken up Zeke, and now they were inside the Indian Point nuclear power plant backed up by his father and the two large British wizards. It was pretty easy getting inside the plant when you were a wizard he thought. They had slipped by the guards without hitch, and the Go Through Mo-Thru spell had got them all the way through to the main computer banks and internal servers.

Justin and Zeke had been working for hours, trying to figure out how to divert power directly from the reactor core to the Wizard World grid without a fully functioning core on the other side of the dimensional barrier. Without that, they had nothing to house the diverted plasma energy in. Crumbs had indicated that the best the wizard engineers could manage at his end was a series of generators driven by Tesla receiving coil transformers.

It was a stopgap measure, a bandaid. But it might work if he and Zeke could figure out the right amount of energy and the right circuits to send a magical signal through which would open a small wormhole inside the reactor core connecting it to the banks of generators in Wizard World, and siphon off the plasma generated by the fission-all without destabilising this core and causing a meltdown.

It also meant that until a permanent replacement was found for the Wizard World's power core, they would have to stay here and monitor the energy transfer. Meanwhile his father and the two British wizards would have to manage the normal people who worked at the power plant, and keep them from catching the wizards in the act of apparent sabotage on the reactor core.

Justin sighed. This was going to be a pain in the ass. He picked up his wand and dialed Professor Crumbs. Fortunately Crumbs picked up right away. The Professor answered in the avuncular manner he would put on sometimes when he was trying hard to demonstrate how much he identified with his students.

"Justin, how are things there? We're all ready and raring to go."

Immediately Justin felt anxious. This was the moment-his moment. He didn't want to blow it-especially not literally-in front of Professor Crumbs. So of course Justin behaved like he always did when he felt uncomfortable. He started acting like Max.

"Yo, whatsup Prof? Howzit hangin'?"

"Don't call me that!" said Crumbs frostily. He enjoyed messing with his students, but then he remembered that this was perhaps an inappropriate time. He continued in a more kindly tone. "Sorry, force of habit Justin. Don't worry. I have utmost faith in you. So what's happening at your end?"

"We're sending you the power in 3 minutes from... now." Justin croaked. "Okay Professor, look, we're going to have to stay and monitor things here until you find something to replace our old core permanently."

"I understand." said the professor. "We have the time synchronised Justin. I'll be talking to you again in 2 and a half minutes."

"Yeah Professor... sure." Justin grimaced.

This was it. Justin conjured up a wormhole and channeled his magic through the circuits leading to the core. The wormhole opened inside the reactor and began to suck up the plasma. It was WORKING! Justin could see it through the lead lined vaults with his Wiz-Specs.

"Zeke, IT'S WORKING!" Justin yelled happily.

"I know." Zeke responded. "And it's stable. Everything is stable! Unbelievable Justin. This is amazing."

Justin dialed the professor back quickly.

"YES!" Shouted Crumbs. "You did it Justin. It's marvelous. Lots of energy flowing into the grid. We've got the lights back on in Wizard World and we're ready to clean up. Oh, and Justin, I'll send some wizard techs to help monitor the nuclear reactor. Once you show them how to do it, they'll be fine."

Ginny and George woke up about 8:30 when Max called down the stairs to Harper's basement bedroom.

"Hey, my Mom's got breakfast ready. If you want some you better get up here quick! It's banana pancakes and I love banana pancakes."

Minutes later a very rumpled Ginny and George were eating banana pancakes. Max had gone to Alex's room to get her and the other two wizards in there with her. Seconds later he was back down the stairs with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Hey, Mom, nobody's in Alex's room. She and Harry and Hermione... They're all gone." He said.

Teresa's eyes widened. Then in exasperation she groaned.

"Oooh no. Not again!"

Ginny and George stiffened, thinking exactly the same thing about Harry: Not Again. Ginny sighed.

"I'm sorry Mrs Russo," said Ginny, "But when Harry takes it in his head to go on a secret mission, once he's gone you just wait until he pops up again. Last time he took Hermione and Ron. But personally, I think Alex will be much better for Harry and Hermione than him." She felt a bit guilty almost as soon as she said it. Poor Ron.

"Well, that's a comfort at least." Teresa was frustrated, but she still felt that Alex would be just fine with two powerful wizards with who had also defeated evil before. "Alex has a bad habit of disappearing too. But as long as she's got somebody like Justin or your friends with her..."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" asked Max in mock indignation at being ignored by his mother as a suitable companion for Alex. Then he promptly turned himself into a plate of chopped liver. Ginny covered her mouth in shock, before grinning at the plate of liver.

"You're such an idiot. I swear you're as bad as George" Ginny snickered. Max was hilarious and she was starting to think that she would miss him when she went back home.

"Oi," said George feigning outrage himself. "I'm right here." Then he laughed too, and suspecting that Max might have a problem getting out of this without any hands, George waved his own wand and Max was back.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Hermione had her head buried in a book-several books in fact-flicking pages back and forth, murmuring and taking notes. Harry had offered to help. But Hermione had just told shortly him to hang out with Alex. Which was fine with Harry. He and Hermione both knew it had been a perfunctory offer. So he and Alex were now sitting and watching Hermione, their eyes starting to glaze over.

Alex was getting bored. She wanted to do something fun, like going shopping, or pranking Justin. She hadn't messed with anyone in days. But oddly enough, she didn't feel annoyed enough with Justin to even get much satisfaction out of the thought.

"Can we go outside for now at least," whined Alex. "I feel cooped up in here."

"Sure," replied Harry. "We've got a good perimeter. Let's go for a stroll by the lake."

Harry and Alex let themselves out as Hermione muttered something to herself. They stepped out of the apartment into the morning light and closed the door. Alex turned around and looked back at the tent. That was an amazing bit of magic she thought. The little tent had a whole furnished apartment with a well stocked refrigerator inside.

"I bought it in case Hermione and I felt like camping." Harry said with a straight face. Staying in the new tent was hardly roughing it. He had spent a fair bit on it, and it was much better than the one which they'd lost when the Snatchers had caught them. Alex grinned shyly at Harry and shoved him.

"Shut up," she said. "That's not a tent. It's just as big as your suite at the plaza," Alex exaggerated.

She didn't know why she was so shy around Harry. He was the first boy who had ever made her feel this way. Alex's thoughts briefly turned to Hermione. The thought of being with her made Alex feel all glowing and tingly inside-like she had when she had fallen for Mason. Alex felt that way about Harry too. But there was something different about him that made her feel all fluttery. Every time she looked in his eyes, she wanted to melt.

Then it hit Alex. Harry was the first "Nice Boy" she had ever felt this way about. The others had all been "Bad Boys," including Dean and Mason who she had loved the most. Alex could sense that Harry would continue to behave as shyly as her until one of them broke the ice. Alex pointed at the lake which was now only a foot away from their feet.

"How far does the perimeter go out?" She asked innocently.

"About another 30 metres I think," said Harry, glad to grasp at something to make conversation with.

"Good!" Alex said with a wicked grin. Then she pushed Harry in the lake.

When he came up sputtering she was rolling on the grass laughing at him. Harry clambered back onto the grassy shore, dripping wet.

"What was that for?" He asked with bemusement.

"Because you needed it." Giggled Alex. You looked hilarious when you were flailing your arms. Harry grinned at her.

"Yeah, I suppose I did. Well, I'm not going back in the tent and annoying Hermione," said Harry, "...and I'm not going to sit in all these wet things. It's warm enough out." Harry wished he had taken the time to learn that drying spell Dumbledore had used at Voldemort's underground lake of zombies. He took off his tee-shirt and draped it on a bush. Then took off his socks and shoes. His jeans were soaked too, but he hesitated before taking those off too.

Harry's boxers looked enough like swim shorts that he didn't feel too tense. But Alex blushed. Harry looked really fit. Maybe even as fit as Dean. She was pleasantly surprised, because Harry didn't strike her as the athletic type. Harry sat down beside Alex and they both looked out across the sparkling blue lake set against a background of trees, fields, and rolling green mountains.

"So Harry, I've told you a bunch of my stories," Alex began, "...what about you? All I know is that you're famous and that you won a war and got the bad guys, and that you grew up with normals. What'd you do at school? How did you grow up? What was it like when you didn't live with wizards?"

"I guess I _should_ start at the Dursley's." Harry began "They were my Aunt and Uncle and they didn't like magic-or me-very much. My cousin Dudley was a big fat jerk who always pushed me around-he turned out alright in the end though. The last time I saw him he was actually really nice to me."

Harry told Alex about setting a python on Dudley and blowing up his Aunt. He soon had Alex rolling on the grass laughing again. He told Alex about saving Hermione from a troll with his friend Ron, and about various adventures with Hagrid's pets. The sun was fairly high in the sky now and the time crept closer to noon as Harry told random stories about himself.

Alex loved hearing about Peeves and Nearly Headless Nick. She started wishing that she had been to Hogwarts. It sounded like way more work than she preferred to do, but it also sounded like a lot of fun there. She suspected that she would have ended up in Hufflepuff or Slytherin and said so to Harry.

"Are you kidding?" Said Harry seriously. "You would have been in Gryffindor. I don't doubt it for a minute. You're fearless." Alex blushed furiously, but the compliment had really turned her on. Without warning she leaned in and kissed Harry, pushing him gently down on the grass.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"Oh good," said Hermione brightly, beaming from ear to ear. She had just emerged from the tent and startled Harry and Alex in the throes of a passionate kiss. This was perfect Hermione thought; it would make things so much easier. "I'm glad you're getting on so well," she said smiling brightly and sitting on the grass beside them. We've only got an hour left before noon."

"We'll start getting ready in a minute, but first I have to show you something I found in an ancient book of Alchemy while I was researching the ritual. I think it explains why we're all drawn together." Alex and Harry straightened up, eager to hear more.

"Look at this picture here." Continued Hermione. "The triangle with a person at each corner; it's called a Triune. They're incredibly rare. You're lucky if a Wizard Triune comes along once in a century. It's made up of three wizards who all share a soul-which is much different than a Wizard Triad."

"Wizard Triads can be made up of any random wizards at any time, no souls involved, and they are nowhere near as powerful as Wizard Triunes. There are different types of Wizard Triunes, depending on the ratio of males to females-but they're all incredibly powerful."

"I think this one is us," Hermione said giddily, "It's the most powerful one according to this book." The triangle she was pointing at had a woman on two corners, and a man at the top of the triangle. "Must have been drawn by a man," she muttered. Then she spoke up again excitedly.

"Anyway, this book claims that most Triunes have a hundredfold the power of one wizard. And that this particular Triune should have three times the power of that-I mean three times the power logarithmically." Harry and Alex looked at Hermione blankly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Logarithmic means counting like this," and conjuring a pen and notepad from thin air. She drew a vertical line and scratched an arrow at each end, then a horizontal line which she left unfinished, and started marking equally spaced intervals on the vertical line above the horizontal-like a ruler.

"Look," she said, "normally you count 1, 2, 3..." Hermione looked up at Harry and Alex to make sure they were paying attention. They both seemed rapt, so she went on.

"I'm going to use this particular logarithmic scale , because it's the scale this book is using. That means each increment increases 10 times... like this... 1, 10, 100, 1,000 etc. So according to the book, it is three times the magnitude of 100-which means that we will allegedly have 100,000 times the power of one average wizard." The other two young wizards were awestruck at the idea.

"But that's probably just a wild guess," Hermione said hastily, "I expect they just meant that the power increased on a scale much like this, but they probably had no real idea whether a regular Triune actually had 100 times the power of one wizard and so on. But whatever... all that really matters is that if this is true-that we are a Triune-then this spell should be able to find the Stone of Dreams anywhere in the world-not just this hemisphere."

"That is so awesome," said Alex, and she looked is if she meant it. "This all makes sense now. I get it... I think. I actually learned something and I liked it," she squealed, hugging Hermione. "Oh, and it'll be way cool to have so much magic of course." Alex said in a falsely nonchalant tone.

Harry smirked. He really liked the impish side of Alex.

They were all very relaxed, considering that they were getting ready to conduct their first sex rite-it would be Alex's first time, and the second or third time for Hermione and Harry (depending how you counted them). Hermione had been too embarrassed to mention it earlier, but it was important that at least one of the participants in this ritual should be a virgin. That was a requirement for the dark rite too.

They set up in the living room of the apartment inside the tent. Harry surprised the girls when he flicked his wand, and the living room took on the look of the forest outside. Slightly translucent trees and bushes lined the walls and vines stretched over the furniture. The carpet was turning to grass, and the ceiling was becoming blue sky with just a wisp of a cloud. It was the nicest bit of magic any one of them had seen for a while.

"Yeah," said Harry with a sloppy grin, "It's just like the Hogwart's main hall, but even better. It's brilliant!" Hermione palmed her face.

It was brilliant, but she couldn't believe Harry had spent so much money. Sirius must have left Harry a bloody massive fortune. From what Harry had said, his parents had been well off, but more like her own dentist parents were well off. Nothing at all like this, which allowed him to spend so much money on hotel suites and luxurious flats inside of tents.

Still, this was the perfect setting Hermione mused. The young wizards carefully drew a large septagram with water on the grassy looking carpet, big enough for all three of them to roll around in a bit. Hermione murmured several incantations and waved her wand. Where the water had soaked the carpet, the outline of the septagram began to glow blue.

It was time. Hermione knew the other two would never get their clothes off if she didn't start first. She stripped down to her underwear. Harry tugged off the sweatpants he had put on when they had come back to the tent.

Alex slowly lifted up her shirt with a slightly pouty look, and pulled it over her head. Her bare skin prickled with electricity. She felt a swooping sensation as she peeled off her pants alluringly, posing sweetly in barely nothing for Hermione and Harry.

Hermione beckoned, and they entered the septagram together, holding their wands aloft as she had showed them. The static charge surged inside the symbol. They each removed their undergarments in turn and kneeled facing towards each other, utterly naked. They raised their wands again and Hermione murmured another incantation under her breath.

Harry then lay down on his back as Hermione had told him to do. She had a little vial of scented oil, and she daubed his forehead. Hermione then motioned for Alex to straddle Harry's torso, and daubed some on her forehead too. Lastly, Hermione touched a finger to her own forehead with the perfumed oil.

When Alex straddled Harry, a wave of pleasure took hold of them, and she began kissing Harry fiercely. Hermione gently guided Alex to where she needed to be, and Alex slowly lowered herself, gasping. Alex turned to kiss Hermione who was caressing her in all the right places. Alex started to moan as the intensity of the act increased. She felt herself became one with Harry and Hermione as they melted into each other on the dot of noon. An explosion of magical energy enveloped them and began expanding outwards, circumventing the Earth in waves of pleasure. The moment seemed to last a lifetime until it peacefully ebbed away.

Alex had never in her life experienced so much passion. And spent, she lay down her head on Harry's chest and put her arms around him. She just wanted to hold him like that for a while, as Hermione continued to caress Alex's body. It was lazily that the Triune left the septagram. They would have laid there all day basking in the afterglow if they could. But time was of the essence.

After cleaning up and dressing, the three of them sat around a large globe which Alex had conjured up. Alex was very pleased with herself for performing a spell correctly right in front of Hermione. The globe looked exactly like the Earth from space and spun slowly on its axis. They all stared at the glowing red dot on the border of Nepal and Tibet and groaned.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Jerry and Justin returned home late that afternoon, they had already sent Zeke home about 7 that morning. Hagrid and Kingsley had left to find a wizard hotel which Hagrid could fit in so that they could catch a nap. The Indian Point nuclear power plant was now completely under the control of the wizard engineers which Justin had been training for the last 8 hours, and the normals would be none the wiser.

Teresa was much happier with her husband and Justin at home. She had let Max stay home from school that day so that he could entertain Ginny and George, who for the time being seemed to have given up on looking for Harry. Eventually they had all decided to go on the quick magical tour of New York's famous attractions, the three of them determined to pull some pranks on someone. Maybe they would play superhero and pick on some criminals.

Ginny was itching for somebody who deserved a thrashing. She was more annoyed that Harry, Hermione, and Alex had left again than she let on. Max had seen that look in Mason's eyes before. So Max was a bit more careful with his jokes, just in case one aggravated her. Max really dug Ginny. She was really cool-not to mention hot. He hoped she would stay for a while and fervently wished that she didn't have to go back to England.

When Alecto looked her map that afternoon, she spotted a blip near a small lake in Virginia. The arrow pointed to the same spot for several minutes. She said nothing to her brother who was watching the 24 hour television news networks, which had all been going on incessantly since midday about the gruesome occult ritual murders which they had committed in a Brooklyn Heights townhouse last night at midnight.

"This is brilliant Alecto," Amycus said, chortling with glee. "Our handiwork is bloody famous. I love muggle media."

Alecto rolled her eyes and looked back at the map. The arrow was still pointing to that spot. She knew that Harry would eventually apparate, and she was waiting to see where he would reappear. After 10 minutes the wait was getting annoying. What the hell was Potter doing? Making out with the two pretty little girls she had briefly seen him with?

Alecto actually giggled at the idea of that bony little blood-traitor with the stupid glasses trying to put the moves on the girls. She knew that the Granger bitch was rumoured to be Potter's girlfriend now, but she still couldn't imagine him getting up the nerve to do anything. That girl would come begging for Alecto's special outfit and toys soon, she thought to herself as she cackled with a leer on her face.

She wished Potter would hurry up, whatever he was doing. It was getting later and later in the evening. Alecto wasn't about to jump at his first location. She wanted to analyse his travel pattern so she could narrow down where best to meet him. The last thing she wanted was to apparate into a trap. And Alecto knew that Potter was learning quickly that when dealing with Death Eaters, he couldn't always resort to a disarming spell.

Finally, the arrow jumped to a small town in Maryland, then to Pennsylvania. Oh this was good she thought. Potter was coming back this way. But even if he veered a different direction, it didn't matter Alecto thought. She would track Potter down to the ends of the Earth if she had to, then she would kill him and use the spell that only she knew while performing a blood rite upon his body-and the bodies of his little harem. She snickered again at the image in her head. Amycus would like it too, except for the bit when she took for herself all of Potter's magic along with his life-force.

Then the arrow was bouncing randomly around New York city again, and Alecto knew that Potter was at the unplottable place again. But this time she would be ready when he left again. She cast a Snare spell that enveloped the entire city. That should hold him until she apparated to him. It was twenty to midnight when the arrow stopped bouncing. Then it vanished altogether.

It took Alecto a moment to register what had happened. She screamed angrily.

"NOOOOO! Bloody Hell!" Then she growled at Amycus. "He's gone... he's gone completely. He's in the other fucking hemisphere, and it's too late to perform a ritual to refresh the map for the next 24 hours."

Amycus was glad he had cast some muggle repelling charms so that the muggles wouldn't hear Alecto getting loud again. He just turned the volume up on the television and ignored her. He would move when Alecto told him to move. But in the meantime he was going to stay right where he was. Amycus had never partaken in muggle forms of entertainment before, and he found it quite amusing. Muggles seemed obsessed with programmes about serial killers and mass murderers. He had also come across a few Muggle horror films that he found particularly gripping.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Snow and ice stung their faces where their parkas weren't covering them. They were in the middle of the Himalayas on a peak near the border of Tibet. Quickly, shivering, they cast a warming spell over themselves. Harry, Alex, and Hermione were still being buffeted by the wind, snow, and tiny flecks of ice. It stung their faces, and even with a warming spell on themselves, it didn't stop the icy precipitation from feeling cold when it struck them.

They were nearly on the opposite side of the world from New York, so it was more or less the middle of the day here instead of midnight, which was when they had left using the IPP in the Russo lair. Alex had sneaked them in after everyone upstairs had gone to bed.

But the ice storm didn't help visibility; they couldn't see more than a dozen feet whichever way they looked. Hermione was using her wand to guide them now. They were very close. But none of them could imagine where the Stone of Dreams might be. There was nothing here against the side of the mountain except snow and ice.

Hermione had imagined that there might be a temple of some sort. This didn't make any sense. Wait. Now it was pointing to a rocky outcrop jutting from up ahead. Maybe there was a cave. They all ran forward and started looking around the rock for some clue, anything. With the howling of the wind they didn't notice a large figure moving towards them.

The figure lunged forward, roaring in apparent anger. It was about 9 feet tall, vaguely human shaped, and covered in matted dirty white fur. Harry screamed at Alex to move; she was right in the creature's path and she had tripped, falling face first into the snow. He sent a stunning spell at it but the creature just absorbed it without slowing down. Hermione had tried a petrificus totalus spell, but the monster still kept coming.

Alex managed to roll over in the snow and pull out her wand just in time; the creature was almost upon her. She shot a spell at it, making up a rhyme on the spot.

"Send away this furry beast, I don't want to be his feast." The monster vanished as it leapt at her. It had been only inches away when the spell hit it. A few seconds later, Alex thought she heard a roaring far off in the distance. She wasn't entirely sure though, because the wind was really loud.

Alex was covered in snow from head to foot and her warming spell had dissipated. Her heart was still pounding. She was freezing her butt off. She groaned as Harry took her by the hand and helped her up. A powerful gust of wind blew them both right over. They were all laughing by the time Hermione pulled them both out of the snow drift. Nobody had been able to maintain their warming spells in all of the confusion, but the wet and the cold didn't seem so harsh when they were in physical contact with each other.

"That was brilliant Alex," said Harry with a slight tone of awe. Her magic really was impressive, and he was still amazed at how simple Alex made creating a spell on the fly look. She looked pensive for a moment. Alex was thinking. The last time the Stone of Tears had been hidden, it was in an underground cavern in the side of a mountain. She was tired of shivering, and without a second thought she instinctively cast another spell.

"Cavus appearus, you have to be near us." The rocky outcrop began to move, and a rumbling sound grew louder. The shaking of the ground knocked them all off their feet. They remained there as the earthquake seemed to intensify. The three young wizards huddled together as the entrance to a large cave was revealed by the shifting boulders. Quickly, they pulled each other to their feet and darted inside. Lanterns on the walls lit up dimly as the rocky mountain face closed the gap behind them.

"Don't worry," said Alex. " I think there is always a separate exit in these places-I hope. What was that thing, the monster?" She and Harry both looked inquisitively at Hermione, who they expected to know the answer.

"It was a Yeti-an Abominable Snowman. They're very hard to spot, but apparently there is a sizable population in the Himalayas." Hermione replied as she conjured a crackling warm blue fire in front of them. That thought sobered them up. If they ran into a bunch of those things, they would be in trouble thought Harry.

They took off their wet parkas and draped them over a few large rocks to dry in the heat. Hermione pulled a food hamper out of her bottomless bag.

"Ooooh, I've seen a bag like that before." Alex said, recalling the bag she had almost pulled herself into once. A few minutes later they were roasting sausages on sticks over the blue flames. After warming up, their hunger sated, and a well deserved rest. The wizards were on their feet again.

There was only one direction to go, so they just went deeper into the mountain. The cave narrowed, and they had to squeeze through sideways to make it into a larger tunnel on the other side. Alex began to panic, feeling claustrophobic. Hermione squeezed Alex's hand, and Alex felt better right away. Once they had made it through, the passage had widened again. But there was a chasm about 20 yards ahead, with what looked like a reddish glow coming from deep underground.

Alex groaned. Why was there always stupid lava in these things? The chasm was another 10 yards or so across. Harry uttered a spell.

"Levicorpus," he said, pointing his wand at Hermione. As she dangled upside down in midair, Harry carefully flew her across the gaping maw of the lava pit, before turning to Alex and lifting his eyebrows, "Are you ready Alex?" Alex didn't feel ready at all. Dangling upside down looking straight into a lava pit didn't sound like fun. But she gritted her teeth and nodded. Moments later they were all across the chasm.

The next obstacle was a familiar one to Harry. All of a sudden the entire world turned upside down and the floor became the ceiling. The wizards all felt waves of vertigo as they looked at the ceiling which had become a floor below them.

"Close your eyes." Harry yelled. "...and keep walking. Everything should right itself again once we've passed through this." Alex and Hermione both followed Harry's instructions, and a few moments later everything seemed back to normal. They kept on walking down the tunnel carefully, apprehensive about what the next obstacle might be.


	33. Chapter 33

** Chapter 33**

Alecto Carrow was still angry at having lost her prey, even though she was resigned to waiting until Harry and his friends returned to New York. She was certain they would return to the place with the unplottable charm, and she was determined to find them when they did.

She considered a spell to break the unplottable charm, but even with three wizards it was nearly impossible to pull off. The blood magic was powerful, but it wasn't strong enough to break a charm unless they had at least one more wizard. Alecto racked her brains trying to think of an American dark wizard that they could approach. It was difficult, for she had as little information about the American wizarding community as the rest of the British wizards had.

But then Alecto remembered seeing a small 3 paragraph article from a copy of the Daily Prophet a few months ago, several days before the Battle of Hogwarts. The report had mentioned that a dark wizard had been defeated from taking over the American Wizard World. His name was Gorog, and apparently he was the ruler over the Dark Angels, denizens of another dimension called the Dark Realm.

All Alecto and Amycus had to do now was find an entrance to Gorog's world. The spell for discovering an entrance was relatively simple though. Dark magic was really easy for her to detect without the help of any other wizards, and even without her wand. In a city the size of New York she could detect any dark magic with her own senses. There had to be an entrance somewhere in the vicinity, and she discovered that she was right. There was one in an alley in between two blocks right near the Hudson river.

"Amycus, let's go. We have another task to complete." She said commandingly. Amycus got out of his comfortable recliner, stretched languidly, and turned off the TV.

"Alright," he responded agreeably. "I'm ready whenever you are." And then the two of them disapparated. They were now in a dark alley, and it was a little after 1:30 am. The stench was rancid, and Amycus wrinkled his nose. Rubbish was strewn in the alleyway; broken alcohol bottles, old tires, rotting food that even dogs wouldn't eat, used needles, and even. The walls were covered in graffiti and grime.

There was a rustling sound behind him. Amycus whirled to face it and shot a killing curse in that direction. A body hit the ground. Alecto looked over her shoulder to see what was happening.

"Just an old homeless muggle," said Amycus smiling thinly. "Have you found the entrance yet?" Alecto pointed at a section of the brick wall.

"It's right there. It's just like the wall leading to Diagon Alley." Alecto replied excitedly, tapping the bricks with her wand. They moved out of the way obligingly, and she and Amycus stepped through the gap in the boundary which had separated this dark plane of reality from the rest of the world.

They moved cautiously. This was a curious place full of steam, sulphur, and lava pits, plants which they had never seen before, and fluttering ugly little creatures not unlike Cornish Pixies. The dark wizards would have thought they were in a cave, except that there appeared to be no roof. The sky, if you could call it that, was a roiling mix of purples. and they were bathed in its twilight. There appeared to be a castle in the distance, and they made their way towards it.

Alecto and Anycus had only made it half way when part of the sky darkened even more. A loud beating of wings drew closer, and then surrounding them, the dark angels regarded the wizards with some amusement.

"We're here to see Gorog." Stated Alecto loudly. "We have business to discuss." The apparent leader of the Dark Angel squad appraised Alecto and Amycus, and Alecto returned the favour She felt dark magic radiating from the Dark Angels. It was weak. She sensed that their recent defeat had drained a lot of their power.

"Follow us," said the Dark Angel. "If you try to escape, we will kill you." Alecto chuckled. These fools wouldn't stand a chance against the Carrows if it came to a battle. But she had no intention of escaping. A short time later, they entered the castle.

Sitting in a throne at the end of the hall was a peculiar sight. The person Alecto presumed to be Gorog was dressed bizarrely for a modern wizard. Only really old wizards dressed like that these days. She wondered how old he really was. He didn't _look_ much older than his mid 50's, despite his solidly white hair which peaked under the brim of his tatty top hat. He was wearing a garishly purple jacket with tails over a lacy frilled white cumberbund and green waistcoat. A thick line of black eyeliner gave the man a pseudo-sinister look.

At least he was wearing pants, Alecto snorted. This man looked like a bigger fool than Rowle. She was having a difficult time fathoming how he had managed to almost seize power in the American Wizard World. She supposed Gorog's power must have been vastly more powerful before his coup attempt had been quelled.

He just looked like such an idiot, but Alecto reminded herself that these American wizards were much more deceptive, relying less on force, and more on conniving and manipulation to achieve their goals. She would have to kill Gorog when he was no longer useful to her, just to be sure that he wouldn't become a threat to them.

She considered briefly the notion of taking over the Dark Realm after his demise. But Alecto's impression of this dimension was that this place was dreary, and not worth the effort of ruling over.

Gorog apprised the two wizards who approached. He knew at once that they were dark wizards, but that only made him even more apprehensive. The only reason he could think of for other dark wizards to enter his realm was to overthrow him. He regarded them suspiciously and put on his best Evil King face.

He knew it looked ridiculous, but it usually disarmed his opponents causing them to underestimate the extent of his power and the lengths he would go to achieve his goals. If he was forced to resort to killing, he would have it done without hesitation. He preferred the long game, but he could live with murder if he had to.

"What are you doing in my realm?" Gorog bellowed, his voice amplified many times and echoing in the chamber. "Be warned. If I don't like what I hear, I will have you tossed into the nearest lava pit."

Alecto could tell a put-on when she saw it. This man was a pompous fraud, a con man. His power was weaker than she had surmised, and he had probably taken this realm through trickery and deceit. Not good, she thought with an inward groan. The spell would be extremely difficult to perform with this buffoon completing the Triad. But she would have to try.

"Lord Gorog," began Alecto with an ingratiating manner, "I had heard of your magnificence, but I had no idea how much more majestic you are in person."

Gorog pretended to be extremely flattered by her phony obsequiousness. It seemed to be working; she was buying it. His double layer of duplicity was convincing these wizards that he really was powerless and incompetent. The woman had visibly relaxed and managed a smile, but she couldn't hide the contempt which lurked behind her narrowed eyelids.

"Continue," said Gorog, with a feigned air of egotism, "flattery will get you everywhere, but get to the point before I get bored."

Amycus smirked. That was something which he himself might have said to Alecto when he was teasing her. Unabashed, Alecto responded.

"We have come with a proposal for you Lord Gorog. I am Alecto Carrow. My brother Amycus and I have come for your assistance in a dark rite. We require three wizards for a Triad, but we would prefer one with superior abilities and intellect so we sought you out."

Oh, this one was good Gorog thought; very entertaining. The more fawning she became, the less she could hide her disdain for him. He decided to give Alecto's proposal a fair hearing though. She might have something interesting to say. A Triad sounded interesting.

"Go on." said Gorog graciously.

"In return we offer you our services in your next attempt to take over the American Wizard World. We have the might to prove our worth. Our previous master was Voldemort." Said the woman.

Gorog stiffened. This woman was dangerous, even if she wasn't planning to take his fiefdom. He would do what she requested because he was interested in unleashing the power of a wizard Triad. He hadn't tried that before and he was scheming of a way to use that power for his own purposes. Once she became useless to him, he would kill Alecto and her creepy brother.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Alex was as experienced with magical obstacles as Harry and Hermione, but the next obstacle almost had her stumped. It was that lion thingy with a lady's face from Egypt, and it was a large one. She had seen the giant crumbling statue in Egypt the last time she had used the IPP, so she recognised it.

The Greek Sphinx spoke.

"What crawls in the dark and lives only lies,

What feeds on fools and unwary lives,

What lives forever, but always dies?"

Wait, Alex wasn't stumped. This was easy. She knew she had this one.

"A vampire." Alex answered instantly, before Hermione even had time to rerun the riddle in her head. "I should know, my brother's ex-girlfriend is one." Alex bounced gleefully a couple times at getting something right. But she had forgotten to tell Harry and Hermione about that story. They looked surprised, but neither of them appeared to harbour any bad feelings about the idea of a wizard and vampire loving each other.

"Anyway, moving on, get out of my way you... you lady headed lion." Alex said with annoyance. She hated riddles. She had just been lucky that Justin's favourite girlfriend was a vampire.

"We're done, right?" Snapped Alex.

"Yes, we're done," replied the irritated Greek Sphinx-Alex had got the riddle far too quickly for her liking. "You may pass."

"Thanks! About time." Alex retorted, sticking her nose in the air and striding past the Sphinx. Hermione and Harry followed closely behind her.

That was brilliant." Said Hermione. "You were spot on and quick off the mark Alex." Alex grinned and squirmed with delight at having impressed Hermione.

They continued through the tunnel under the mountain. Finally it opened into an enormous awe inspiring cavern hundreds of metres in diameter, and at least a hundred metres tall. In the centre, surrounded by stalactites was a small lake with an island in the middle.

Harry and Alex groaned at the same time. Not this again thought Harry. But Alex was on a different track.

"They always save the worst for last." She moaned. "The last time it was the crumbling chasm over lava. I bet this time it's stupid sharks with lasers on their heads or something else ridiculous."

Harry thought Alex was probably right. But perhaps not specifically about the sharks with lasers he figured, completely missing the reference. He didn't bother trying the accio spell; no magical object as powerful as the Stone of Dreams would be taken so easily. But he heard Hermione give it a go.

"Look," said Alex with a little bounce of excitement and grabbing Harry's arm. "There... you almost can't see them: little glass platforms for stepping on to get to the island."

Harry spotted them, barely visible against the water, but slightly glinting from the cavern's light source.

"Okay, we're all going across, right?" Said Harry. Hermione and Alex both nodded. Harry cautiously put his foot out onto the first little glass platform he saw. it was only about a metre square. He'd be lucky if he could get two feet on it. Alex chanted something and waved a wand at Harry's feet.

"Hippity hop, don't stop, till he gets to the other side." Harry's feet danced by themselves, carrying him across all of the little platforms until he hit the shore of the island when he landed face down in the sand. Hermione and Alex both giggled. The improvised spell had worked. Alex did the spell again for Hermione and herself.

Alex's foot slipped on the last platform and a toe touched the water as she flew to land face down in the sand next to Hermione. There was an almighty splash. The wizards just stared at the shark which had launched itself onto the last platform and appeared to striving to reach the shore. The bloody thing actually had a laser on its head which started firing randomly at them.

"Petrificus Totalus," yelled Hermione pointing her want at the shark while the other two dodged the laser blasts. The shark shuddered, fell off the platform and sunk beneath the surface of the lake.

Alex smacked herself on the forehead groaning in disgust. The old geezers who made up these stupid obstacles had no imagination, she thought. This one was probably Crumbs' idea.

Now that they were all on the island, they spotted the podium in the centre of some small trees. The Stone of Dreams was waiting for them. Alex picked up the gem, then Hermione grabbed her and Harry and apparated to a safer place before the cavern collapsed in on them. She had correctly assumed that the British used different magical frequencies than the Americans for some spells, and that apparating would probably work while it was unlikely that Alex's flash would.

This time when they reappeared, they were outside the gates of a Tibetan monastery. Hermione looked longingly at them hoping that they might have time to take a peek. But Alex had already called up the IPP and they all emerged at the other end in the Russo lair. It was well after 6 am.

The young wizards were exhausted and collapsed on the couch together where Justin and Jerry found them when they came downstairs about 8:30. Justin and his father had been preparing to head back to the reactor when they discovered the runaways in the lair.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

"Alex," yelled Jerry, startling everyone awake, "Thank God you're okay. Where did you go?"

Alex stared bleary eyed at her father, then she leapt up wide awake and started squealing and jumping up and down.

"Daddy, we found it again. I've got it-the Stone of Dreams. I can save everyone again! Make everything right."

Justin glanced at his dad. They both had the same thought. It occurred to them that Alex with the Stone of Dreams might not be such a good idea.

Alex looked at them and her heart fell. She couldn't believe it. They were doing it again, and she began to feel small inside.

"Daddy, I don't think you understand. I can wish for everything to go back to the way it was-and change time." She wailed. All those people in the Wizard World dead and injured... It was unbearable to think that she couldn't bring them back. "Justin..." she said beseechingly, tears running down her cheeks.

Jerry was beginning to crack. It did seem like a good idea to him the more he thought about it.

"No," said Hermione quietly. But everyone heard her and paid attention. "You can't change time on that grand of a scale Alex. Trust me. I know."

"But when I did it last time I changed things back so Max, Justin and I would be born. I made a mistake and our parents had never met... It worked. Everything went back to the way it was."

"That's because it was smaller," replied Hermione, "...and you were correcting what was already an error in the timeline. You were resetting your personal timelines back in sync with the rest of the world. This is too big, too much to change; and it would alter everybody in the world's timelines. Too much is at stake Alex."

Alex was crushed, heartbroken. Harry put his arm around her and brought her in for a hug while she cried. It wasn't fair thought Alex. It wasn't fair that all those people had died and that she couldn't bring them back. She understood why she couldn't, but the feeling that it wasn't fair ripped at her gut and sent her thoughts racing round in a loop.

Justin had been very quiet. He had been thinking about the Stone of Dreams.

"Dad." Justin said. "I know what to do with the Stone."

This time everyone stared at Justin. He cleared his throat.

"The Stone is magical enough to power the grid properly, with Object Magic. It can replace the old core that ran on Wizard Magic... And nobody will ever have to give up their powers again."

The entrance to the lair exploded knocking everyone to the ground. Alecto and Amycus stood grinning over them as the dust settled.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

"Well, well, well," sneered Alecto. "Potter!" She spat venomously.

Alecto, Amycus and Gorog had earlier finished the spell which broke the unplottable charm, and it wasn't difficult to break the other protective spells once it went down. Alecto had turned her back to Gorog intentionally, and as he made to curse her, Amycus had driven a sword into Gorog's back. It had pierced his chest wall and the blade came out the other side. Amycus had given the sword a twist, and Gorog died as he bled out.

Now they finally had the upper hand. Amycus stood watch by the hole in the wall while Alecto pointed her wand at Potter and his friends. She could have used the Avada Kedavra curse on the lot of them, but she wanted Potter's powers. Greed got the best of her.

"Alright Potter?" She cackled, "What's the matter? Afraid I'll kill one of your little girlfriends?" Harry's hand reached for his wand.

"No, no Potter." Alecto said mockingly, and she conjured up a rope that bound Harry, Alex, and Hermione together. "We'll be having none of that, or one of your friends will die right now."

"I don't think so," said a girl's voice. A stunning spell knocked Amycus off his feet. But he was shaking it off when Ginny forgot to use magic and just kicked him in the jaw with a sickening crack. Amycus collapsed to the floor, dead of a broken neck.

"That was for Neville, you coward." Ginny said through gritted teeth. Amycus had been particularly brutal to Neville last year, breaking a number of his bones, and knocking out his teeth. A bit of magic was always used after a torture session to heal Neville enough to prevent permanent damage, but not enough to ease the pain of it.

Ginny's magnificent entrance was lost in the ensuing chaos as spells were fired, ricocheting around the destroyed lair. Justin and his father were hiding and trembling behind the office desk which was near the doorway to the Wizard World. Alex, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were dueling with Alecto who was singlehandedly warding them all off.

Alecto was shrieking insanely, tears streaking her cheeks. Her brother was dead, and her world was collapsing around her. It wasn't fair. This was supposed to be her moment of glory, instead it was all turning to ash. Finally she got one of Potter's girlfriends in her sights. It was his new one, the pretty American girl with the raven hair. She aimed her wand.

"Expelliarmus," yelled Harry and Hermione simultaneously. Their spells melded, then collided with her killing spell. The green bolt of magic ricocheted when it hit the others, and struck Alecto in the head. She crumpled to the ground-still thinking this wasn't fair as her eyes went dark.

Hermione and Harry looked down sadly at her body. So much death and cruelty had finally been brought to an end. But Alecto's grief at the death of her brother was still etched on her face. It was hard to feel the depth of hatred that he had felt for Dolohov at the Wizard power plant. She and her brother had clearly been psychotic, and their gruesome thirst for blood put Voldemort's own violent excesses to shame. But they had still felt something which Voldemort had never known. The bond between Alecto and her brother had been powerful.

Amycus and Alecto had loved and grieved and had supported each other through thick and thin. It was difficult to see them both lying there, knowing that Alecto had died in so much emotional agony. Harry wondered if her childhood had been any happier, and was surprised to find his face wet with tears. This was entirely unexpected. he hadn't expected to feel this way at her death-especially because he had been considering using the crucio curse on her if he'd had the chance.

She had deserved it, and more, for all of the horrors she had committed. But it didn't feel at all satisfying like killing Dolohov had.

Hermione and Alex both embraced Harry tearfully. Alex was happy those two psychopaths were dead, but the overwhelming emotional roller-coaster of the last few days caught up with her now that it was all over and she was sobbing loudly in Harry's arms.

"I'm glad we used the Expelliarmus spell Hermione." Harry said quietly. "Alecto probably thought it was a useless spell like the rest of the Death Eaters did. But I'm glad I didn't use a crucio or a killing curse on her myself now."


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

Jerry didn't have any quandaries anymore about Hermione and Harry staying in Alex's room while they spent the next few days recuperating. Alex was in good hands. She had found some people who would love her and support her as much Jerry and Teresa, and Alex's two brothers did.

Justin and the engineering wizards had encased the Stone of Dreams in a new core container and rebuilt the computer controls and the connections to the grid. He was finally able to shut down the wormhole which had been siphoning off plasma from the Indian Point power station's nuclear core.

Now all he had to deal with were the people calling for Professor Crumbs', and Chancellor Tootietootie's heads because they were the only ones left in charge. Justin understood the anger. But Crumbs and the Chancellor hadn't set the system up; it had been in place since the mid-19th century.

And they had done the best they could given that the Wizard Council had put a gag-order on them-a spell which _literally gagged them_ if they had tried to tell the truth. It was a spell the Council had used on everyone with access to the top secret magical power plant-it had only broken when the Council members who had cast it on people were killed in the explosion.

People could call for their heads all they wanted. Justin was more or less in charge right now. Wizard World wasn't really a democracy, and Justin felt that he could do a lot to change that-after he had pardoned the Professor and the Chancellor and returned them to their previous high status within the Wizard World government. For now, the Wizard Council would consist of the Chancellor, Crumbs, Helen, and Mr Stuffleby-with Justin running the show.

Teresa was just glad that everything was over, and that she had been right. Harry and Hermione were good for Alex.

Max and Ginny meanwhile were off by themselves pranking unsuspecting New Yorkers-but mostly just jerks and criminals. Ginny had decided that she was never letting Max go. He was as much of an idiot as Fred and George had both been put together, but he was so mellow and innately kind that he grounded Ginny in a way that Harry hadn't.

George had got bored of tagging along and had returned to Britain. He was dying to tell Ron what happened, but he thought it should be a surprise. So he decided to bunk at Bill and Fleur's until Harry returned.

Ginny didn't return to Britain when Harry and Hermione did a few days later. She figured Mum could just have Percy and Ron to boss around for now. That was enough kids for her to keep under her thumb. Ginny wasn't coming back until it was time to go to Hogwarts for her 7th year-and she was bringing Max with her. She had forgotten entirely that she had wanted to be there to see Ron's face when Harry showed up at the Weasley's with both Alex and Hermione in tow.

But George hadn't forgotten and he waited patiently for almost a week.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Harry and Hermione returned to Britain with Alex, via the Russo's IPP. They had thoroughly had enough of muggle transportation.

Harry wasn't sure where they should live for now. His godfather's house was still really creepy (though that was where they were currently staying) and his parents' house was still a ruin. But Harry really didn't want to buy another property. That just wasn't his thing, owning more than he really needed. The trip had been a splurge because Harry loved Hermione and he wanted to share some luxury with her.

He and Hermione decided to drop by Bill and Fleur's and introduce them to Alex and ask Bill what he thought. Bill had always seemed like the most sensible Weasley son, and Harry trusted his advice as much as he did Arthur's-who was up to eyeballs in work at the Ministry. Harry sent a message to Bill from #12 Grimmauld Place with his new owl, a large beautiful Golden Owl named Horus.

Alex was thrilled with England (especially shopping in London). She skipped along beaming radiantly, dragging a giggling Hermione by the arm along the beach. The crisp sea air at Shell Cottage was making her feel all tingly inside again and she began to wish that she and Hermione could just make out with Harry on the beach.

"Maybe later," Harry told Alex with a grin. He had heard her thoughts. He, Hermione and Alex had been hearing each other's thoughts more and more frequently over the last week. And it was hard to resist each other. It must be the Triune power really kicking in Harry thought. He needed to talk to Bill before they went for a romp though. That's why they were here he reminded himself, and Bill was expecting them.

They were almost to Bill and Fleur's front door. Hermione and Alex glanced at each other wickedly. Harry didn't notice, as he was trying very hard to focus on what to discuss with Bill. Hermione and Alex both put their arms around Harry who was walking in between them, and they began kissing him vigorously. He couldn't resist and began kissing them back.

The door to Bill and Fleur's house swung open and Ron stood there in sullen shock, staring at the two girls snogging Harry at once. He hadn't expected to see Harry at all, much less see this.

Ron began to turn purple while George held his sides laughing in the doorway behind him. George was laughing so hard that he fell on the floor, tears of mirth streaking his face. That bloody git had invited him, Ron thought furiously.

Bill face-palmed while Fleur looked away, smirking.

"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" Ron swore loudly, and he disapparated in a rage.

**THE END?**

**End Notes: **

**I'm considering a sequel, and if you're interested in seeing one, please let me know in a review. :)

**I must apologise to Ron fans. I tend be a Harmony shipper (except in my canon compliant one-shot). But surely I could have treated him better?

But come on... You all know that's exactly how Ron would behave under the circumstances he was dealing with in this Harmony setting:

He had accepted that he had blown his opportunity with Hermione and still wanted to be friends. But he still can't help feeling jealous. Anyone would, and Ron already has issues.

It was Ron's own fault that he did't go with Ginny and George. If he had, he would have realised that as Minister of Magic, his father could get them free International Floo Network passes. (I had a couple of paragraphs with this info, but it disrupted the story flow, so I brutally chopped them. I figured that it was all implied anyway).

Though it wasn't Ron's fault when George-being true to the dickish side of his own character-had arranged a bombshell to drop on an unsuspecting Ron.

And it wasn't Ron's fault that the bombshell was the in-your-face revelation that his best friend now had two hot girlfriends who couldn't keep their hands off Harry.

So all in all, I feel that Ron's character is presented in a balanced manner and true to his established nature. As I addressed at the beginning of Part 2, the characters more or less wrote themselves, even to the point of determining their relationship arcs. In a way, I had very little to with it, except to type it out and edit it.

**Author Notes:**  
**On the occasional deliberate use of alliteration, I am a fan. Some people reading may notice a couple of deliberate alliterative passages in what I think are appropriate scenes (humorous scenes, or-more rarely-poetic scenes). But I noticed at least one unintentional alliterative passage, which I have yet to revise.

**I tend to edit as I write, which is a bad way to get any serious writing done. This time I made more of an effort to just write, and edit afterward. And it worked in terms of actually completing a story in record time. But I find that even after going through this 5 or 6 times, I keep seeing things that I want to change.

Editing includes pulling up an online thesaurus and making sure that you aren't using the same or similar words too often. But as I didn't edit during the initial writing, I had to do it after. I keep finding passages in which I used the same or similar words, and I haven't revised them yet. But there IS one instance intended to be mildly humous, in which I used the same word intentionally.

Editing also includes ruthlessly chopping out passages-often several paragraphs or even sometimes pages-which either: disrupts the flow of the action, relays unnecessary or repetitive information, is purple prose, or is an out of place scene which belongs in another section-or just poorly written. It's hard, sometimes you can write a really nice passage of prose which is one or all of the above. It's just got to go. In any case, I think I managed to eliminate all of the unnecessary passages before press-time.


	39. Interlude

Remember what I said earlier about being ruthless when editing yourself? Well I finally got up the nerve and whacked off the bits that needed to go, and revised some scenes heavily.

Frankly, even mild descriptions of sexual activity in a non-porn setting can end up sounding like badly written porn, and I wasn't happy at all with the original end of chapter 2 and all of chapter 3. It wasn't the content that was bothersome-just the fact that it sounded like cheap HBO porn (which is even worse than cheap Internet porn because HBO porn never goes all the way :P ). It is not only uncomfortable to read, but it also distracts from the flow of the story.

So, how _do_ you write a sex scene in a romance or drama which doesn't sound tawdry and is uncomfortable to read?

When in doubt, Less is More is my motto. You don't need a sexual play by play like it's a football match. You don't need bad cliches and florid language. And "nasty" talk should only be placed in the mouths of characters who are "nasty" (otherwise it just seems grotesquely out of place).

Focus on the emotional content and smaller sensual actions like a kiss or a touch, and leave the rest to the imagination.

At least that's what I'm going with now. I tried to do that to begin with, but apparently I lost my focus with this piece. I think my first fanfic _'The Adventures of Bilbo and Tauriel'_ was better because I followed my own advice from the start in that story.

So pretty much all of chapter 3 got cut, and a new scene inserted. And the end of chapter 2 was edited and revised. The sexual context is still there, but the action is more implied. And I think the scenes are much better for it.

I did also edit Chapter 30 a bit, but interestingly enough, I think very little of the sex scene in that chapter needed revision. Just a couple of sentences.

* * *

I am working on several sequel concepts at the moment. It seems like everyone has decided that maybe returning to Hogwarts for a do-over of the 7th year isn't such a bad idea.

I have about 5 or 6 chapters of the "7th Year" story more or less ready to go. I haven't decided yet whether I should continue it now, or just leave it where it is and move on to the next one. The "7th year" story is not a story with very much action at all, it mostly focuses on how the characters interact at school together.

I'll post a notification here when it's ready to go. Here's a little teaser for anyone following this story...

* * *

"Can I get that set of dress-robes over there?" Asked Harry. "I think Alex might be needing those."

Alex felt even more embarrassed that Harry had heard her thoughts.

"Wait, stop Harry! You can't spend all that money on me. I don't even have any for these robes." She whined.

"No, it's alright Alex... really! Hermione was right. My godfather Sirius was loads richer than I thought he was. In his will, he left me vaults in Gringotts full of his family's gold." Said Harry smiling at Alex. "I've got plenty to share. I'd give some to the Weasleys if they'd let me. I'm buying those robes, and the robes Madame Malkin is putting on you. Alright?"

"I... I guess," Alex stammered reluctantly. She didn't like to think of herself of free-loading off of Harry. It wasn't the same as free-loading off her parents, or her past boyfriends. Harry was so unselfish, it just wouldn't be right to take advantage of him.

"Oh stop being so noble." Harry said with a loving smirk. "Whatever's mine is yours." Then Harry leaned in and kissed Alex briefly so that she knew he meant it.

Madame Malkin raised one eyebrow... and then the other. This was a two eyebrow event. Hadn't she just seen Potter giving Miss Granger a kiss just outside of her shop half an hour ago, just before Granger had come in for her robes-right in front of the girl now being fitted?

Harry didn't appear to be engaging in any subterfuge or hiding his affections for both girls, yet neither of the girls seemed distraught about it-quite the opposite by all appearances. Madame Malkin had thought she'd seen everything to see in her shop. But she hadn't seen anything quite like this since the 1960's.


	40. Chapter 40

This is just a note to let people who are following this story know that I have posted my sequel to this story:

Harry Potter &amp; the Wizards of Waverly Place: 7th Year at Hogwarts


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